A First Look And Detailed Notes

2007: Rounds 5-8 18th-21st Sept 2007: Rounds 9-11 23rd-25th Sept 2007: Rounds 12-14 27th-29th Sept 2007. Tiebreak games if required 30th Sept 2007, along with the closing ceremony. Play starts at 14:00 local time (there is a 6 hour time difference with England making it 8pm over here) tiebreaks a couple of hours earler at 12:00. Prize fund: US$1.3 million. Time control: 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 20 moves in one hour, followed by 15 minutes plus 30 seconds for all the remaining moves (40/2h, 20/1h, 15m+30sec/all). According to the FIDE regulations: Tie breaks for the World Chess Championship Tournament: When the top two or more players score the same number of points, the title of the World Champion will be decided by the following criteria, in order of priority: a) The results of the games between the players involved in the tie. If they are still tied: b) The total number of wins in the tournament of every player involved in the tie. If they are still tied: c) Sonneborn - Berger System. If there is no clear winner with the above 3 criteria, there will be a special competition between the players who still remain tied after using the 3rd criteria (Sonneborn - Berger). If still tied each player will play two games with the other opponents (one or more) with a time control of 25 minutes and an increment of 10 seconds per move from move one for each player. There can also be Blitz and sudden death games. The event will be Category XXI (average 2751.75) ahead of the last world title tournament in San Luis (ave 2738 cat 20) and the original match tournament held in The Hague and Moscow in 1948 which had a recalculated average of 2698.2. In an admittedly unscientific trawl through events in my database I find that the strongest tournaments of all time were the Frankfurt rapids The strongest of these was the 1998 Frankfurt Chess Classic Giants (ave 2781, Kramnik, Anand, Kasparov and Ivanchuk) The following two events in 1999 (ave 2763) and 2000 (2767) were also really out there). Then comes what I believe to be the strongest classical event Las Palmas 1996 (cat 21 2756 Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Karpov and Ivanchuk) followed by Dortmund 2001 (cat 21 ave 2755), Linares 1998 (cat 21 ave 2752). I'm open to correction but with ratings inflation Las Palmas 1996 looks a hard one to beat. If you don't quite believe the ELO numbers because of rating inflation then you could follow Jeff Sonas' method where he prefers to look at how much of the top-ten participate in the tournament. He made up a formula several years ago where you get 4 points if the #1 player plays, 4 points for the #2 player, and 3 points each for #3 and #4, 2 points each for #5 and #6, and 1 point each for #7 through #10. He believes it gives you roughly the same numbers as "category" and the results feel right. Jeff Sonas says "by this measure, the two strongest tournaments of all time were Vienna 1882 and Linares 1993, which each had 9 of the top ten, missing only the #9 player (that's Rosenthal at Vienna 1882 and Short at Linares 1993). World champion Steinitz was also at Vienna 1882 but was not on my rating list due to inactivity, so I probably give the overall nod to that tournament. There were also four tournaments that had #1 through #8 but not #9 or #10 (AVRO 1938, Nottingham 1936, Linares 1992 and Corus 2001). I think the fact that it's missing Ivanchuk and Topalov has to move Mexico down a notch but clearly it's the strongest tournament in a while."

If you want to look there is a detailed list on his ChessMetrics site here. The eight players in Mexico City are all in the top 14 in the world. July 2007 Rating List No. Ap Name t NAT YroB ju07 Gms 1 1 Anand, Viswanathan........ g IND 1969 2792 4 2 2 Topalov, Veselin.......... g BUL 1975 2769 10 3 3 Kramnik, Vladimir......... g RUS 1975 2769 1 4 12 Ivanchuk, Vassily......... g UKR 1969 2762 22 5 4 Morozevich, Alexander..... g RUS 1977 2758 18 6 6 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyaz.... g AZE 1985 2757 14 7 8 Leko, Peter............... g HUN 1979 2751 9 8 5 Aronian, Levon............ g ARM 1982 2750 15 9 7 Radjabov, Teimour......... g AZE 1987 2746 7 10 18 Jakovenko, Dmitry......... g RUS 1983 2735 29 11 20 Shirov, Alexei............ g ESP 1972 2735 28 12 9 Svidler, Peter............ g RUS 1976 2735 6 13 11 Gelfand, Boris............ g ISR 1968 2733 21 14 16 Grischuk, Alexander....... g RUS 1983 2726 18 * missing from Mexico City

* * * * * *

Starting Tournament Table -------------------------------------WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752) -------------------------------------1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 2. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 3. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 4. Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 5. Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 6. Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 7. Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 8. Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 -------------------------------------One of the things I found sad about the FIDE KO Championships is that many players didn't seem to me to prepare seriously for them, instead they seemed to just carry on playing as normal almost up to the start of the tournament. Given the random nature of that format it was perhaps understandable. Looking at the players schedules they seem to have cleared their calendars for serious preparation (something to put the Petroff under serious pressure would be top of my wish list) so we could see some pretty special new ideas. Looking at the players we see that Alexander Morozevich last played in the Spanish Team Championships mid-June, Levon Aronian Classical Candidates Finals against Shirov in mid-June (last rapid mid-August Chess Classic Mainz), Peter Svidler last played in the Aerosvit tournament in Foros at the end of June. Then we see a number of players whose last classical event was Dortmund which ended on July 1st, these are Viswanathan Anand (did play the Chess Classic Mainz rapid mid-August), Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Gelfand (Pivdenny Bank Cup rapid start of July straight after the finish of Dortmund) and Peter Leko. Finally Alexander Grischuk had a reasonably active August playing his last classical event, Biel at the start of August, rapid Mainz mid-August and then a blitz on the 26th Aug.

I produced a games collection of all the games between the players 2005-7 - PGN Games Collection between the players 2005-7 which gives all the classical games followed by all the additional rapid and blitz games. I then compiled a record of all the players amongst each other in classical chess over that period. Classical Record 1 Kramnik,V 2754 2 Anand,V 2786 3 Svidler,P 2735 4 Aronian,L 2724 5 Grischuk,A 2710 6 Leko,P 2749 7 Morozevich,A 2741 8 Gelfand,B 2717 [Total of 138 games. given in ()]

(+32) 13.5/24 56.2% (- 7) 19.5/35 55.7% (+36) 26.5/49 54% (+16) 18.0/36 50% (+22) 11.5/23 50% (-38) 19.0/42 45.2% (-33) 14.0/31 45.1% (-21) 16.0/36 44.4% Rating changes from these games

Personally this table feels about right for the chances of the players It came as quite a surprise to me that Boris Gelfand had the bottom percentage score against the rest of the field. He is the oldest player by a year from Anand and perhaps is not at the height of his career but there are few better professionals. He will no doubt be extremely well prepared and whilst I don't expect him to win, I don't believe he'll be last either. Probably +1 is the best I would expect from him if on form. Having tried to put the best foot forward for the players at least two or three players, are in the nature of things, going to struggle and I feel sorry for them because this is going to be one tough event, especially if you get identified as the man to play for a win against. I'm really looking forward to the tournament and think it could be an all time classic. We will have on the spot reports and photos and will follow it up with coverage from home. Finally with the tournament not having started it seems a bit churlish to start talking about what happens afterwards but I was asked earlier in the day and I got it wrong. So here goes, the winner of the event will be undisputed world champion. However in the future the World Championship will again be settled by matches. In 2008 Vladimir Kramnik will play the winner of Mexico City unless he wins the event himself. Veselin Topalov as the loser of the last match in Elista will play the winner of the World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk which takes place at the end of the year. The winners of those matches will play for the title in 2009. However if Kramnik wins the WCCh tournament in Mexico City 2007, a match between Kramnik and Topalov, the current and the previous world champions, will take place in 2008. In that case, the winner of the Kramnik- Topalov match will play against the winner of the 2007 World Cup.

After that qualification for a world title shot will come from one of two methods. Firstly there will be another World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk in 2009. The winner of that will play the winner of a newly established Grand Prix three events per year (different continents) taking place over the years 2008-9. The winners of the Grand Prix and the World Cup will meet in a match and the winner of that will challenge the world champion in 2010 and on it goes with another match in 2012. FIDE have a map and explanation at: Defending champion Vladimir Kramnik starts the event with two games with the white pieces. He may have been surprised by Peter Svidler's choice of the Moscow Variation instead of his long term favourite the Gruenfeld Defence (although he has recently shown signs of wanting to diversify.) Kramnik looked to build his position up slowly but with 19...c5 Svidler freed his position at the cost of a pawn and the position was distinctly unclear when the game was drawn a few moves later. Kramnik,V (2769) - Svidler,P (2735) [D43] WCh Mexico City MEX (1), 13.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 Playing a straight bat, to coin a cricket phrase. This is the Moscow Variation and evidently people from St Petersburg are allowed to play it. 6.Bxf6 [6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 b5 8.e5 g5 Seems fine for Black at the moment] 6...Qxf6 7.e3 [The last top level outing for this line was 7.Qb3 Nd7 8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4 e5 10.Bd3 exd4 11.0-0 with sharp play Mamedyarov-Topalov Sofia 2007] 7...Nd7 8.Bd3 g6 9.e4 White must try to make something of his advantage in the centre [In contrast 9.cxd5 exd5 Gives Black little to fear] 9...dxc4 10.e5 Qe7 11.Bxc4 Kramnik must have been pleased with this position and deciding where he wants his rooks so ha can start squeezing Black either by getting a knight to d6, pressuring the c file or softening up the kingside with h4-h5 .Black's plan is to expand on the queenside and play c6-c5, if allowed when his bishop pair might come into play. If the position opens up Black can be better but its certainly +=

11...Bg7 12.0-0 0-0 13.Re1 [13.Qe2 b6] 13...Rd8 14.Qe2 [14.Qc2 b6 15.h4 Bb7 16.h5 g5 17.Qe4 Nf8 and Black is ready for b5 and c5] 14...b6 15.Rad1 a5 16.Bd3

[16.Ne4!? c5 17.Nd6 (17.dxc5 bxc5 18.Nd6 Nxe5 19.Nxe5 Rxd6 20.Rxd6 Qxd6 21.Nxf7 Qe7? 22.Ne5 Bxe5 23.Qxe5 Kf7 24.Re3 Ra7 25.Qh8 1-0 M Mueller - J Kacynski Poland 1991) 17...cxd4 18.Qe4] 16...Bb7 17.Be4 b5 18.h4 [18.Nxb5 Nxe5 19.Nxe5 Bxe5 20.dxe5 cxb5 21.Bxb7 Qxb7=] 18...Nb6 19.Bb1 This looks tentative, but it frees e4 for the knight. [19.h5 b4 20.Nb1 would maintain the tension and if 20...g5 21.Nbd2 g4 22.Nh2 Rxd4 23.Nxg4 and Black has problems with h6] 19...c5! Sacrificing a pawn to release the Bb7 and destroy White's centre [19...b4? 20.Ne4 c5 21.dxc5 (21.Nxc5 Bxf3 22.Qxf3 Qxh4) 21...Nd7 22.h5 g5 23.Nd6 Bxf3 24.Qxf3 Nxe5 25.Qe4 f5 26.Qe3+/-] 20.Nxb5 Ba6 21.h5 g5 [21...Qe8 22.a4 (22.hxg6 Bxb5 23.gxf7+ Kxf7 24.Qe4 Bc6 and; 22.Bd3 c4 23.Nc7 cxd3 24.Qe4 Qd7 25.Nxa8 Rxa8 26.hxg6 look OK for Black) 22...Nxa4 23.Bd3 gives White hope of an advantage] 22.Nh2 A surprise - Svidler [22.Bd3!? and if 22...c4 23.Bxc4 Nxc4 24.Qxc4 When Black does not seem to able to exploit the pin] 22...Rxd4 23.Rxd4

There is still a lot of play in the position. Afterwards Svidler said he did not know who was better [23.Rxd4 cxd4 24.Bd3 Nd5 25.Nxd4 Bxd3 26.Qxd3 Qb4=] 1/2-1/2 Alexander Morozevich came out with typically aggressive intent against Levon Aronian as exemplified by his 8.h4 but Aronian was calm and broke in the centre to obtain a slightly favourable position. However a possible inaccuracy led to trades and a peaceful outcome. Morozevich,A (2758) - Aronian,L (2750) [E12] WCh Mexico City MEX (1), 13.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 The Petrosian - Kasparov Variation White invests a tempo to prevent Bb4 as the battle for the e4 square is paramount in the Queen's Indian 4...Bb7 5.Nc3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 [6...exd5 Gives Black an inferior Queen's Gambit Tartakower Variation] 7.e3 g6 Black has tried a few things here like Be7, Nd7 and c5. This move changes the character of the position to resemble a Gruenfeld Defence and the move was championed by Viktor Korchnoi who defeated Garry Kasparov with it in 1983, a game I witnessed. 8.h4 White seeks to prevent Black from castling with this preemptive attack but Aronian follows the classic recipe and answers an early flank attack with play in the centre

[8.Bb5+ c6 9.Bd3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bg7 Kasparov - Korchnoi] 8...Bg7 9.h5 Nd7 [9...c5 10.Bb5+ Bc6 Polugaevsky - Korchnoi; 9...0-0 showing contempt is also possible. Adorjan achieved a winning position with this against Miles but it seems a bit risky] 10.Bd3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 e5! [11...Rc8 12.e4 (12.Qe2 c5 13.Bb2 0-0 14.Rd1 cxd4 15.cxd4 Nf6 16.hxg6 hxg6 17.e4 Qe7 18.Ne5+/= 1/2-1/2 Dreev,A (2590)-Sax,G (2565)/Tilburg 1992/CBM 032 (55)) 12...Nc5 13.Bg5 Nxd3+ 14.Qxd3 Qd7 15.h6 Bf8 16.Bf6 Rg8 17.Ng5 Qa4 18.Nxh7 Ba6 19.Qd2 Qc4 20.Nxf8 Rxf8 21.f3 Kd7 22.Kf2 Kc6 23.h7 Rh8 24.Kg3 Kb7 25.Qf4 Qb5 26.Qe5 Qxe5+ 27.dxe5 Kc6 28.Kf4 1-0 Dreev,A (2590)-Sax,G (2565)/Tilburg 1992/CBM 032] 12.Qc2 Qe7 Threatening e4

[12...c5 13.hxg6 hxg6 14.Rxh8+ Bxh8 15.Bxg6 Bxf3 16.gxf3 fxg6 17.Qxg6+ Ke7] 13.Be4 [Black should not have too many problems after this. One sharp possibility was 13.e4 exd4 14.h6 Bf6 15.cxd4 c5 (not 15...Nc5 16.e5) 16.e5 cxd4 17.0-0 WHite gives up two pawns but the Rh8 is out of play for a long time 17...Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Qxe5 19.Qa4+ Kf8 20.Bd2] 13...Bxe4 [13...c6 14.h6] 14.Qxe4 0-0 15.hxg6 hxg6! No fear. After Rfe8 even if White were to arrange Qh7+ it would not hurt too much

16.a4 c5 17.Ba3 Rfe8 This ensures the collapse of White's centre and Black starts to press slightly 18.Rc1 exd4 19.Qxe7 Rxe7 20.cxd4 Re4 Unpinning the c5 pawn and threatening cxd4 21.Kf1 cxd4 22.exd4 Nf8 23.g3 Rd8?! [23...Ne6 24.Bb2 Rd8; White's 'undeveloped rook protects the d4 pawn for example 23...Bxd4 24.Nxd4 Rxd4 25.Bb2] 24.Rc7 Ree8 25.Rxa7 Ra8

[25...Ra8 26.Rxa8 Rxa8 27.Kg2 Rxa4 28.Bxf8 Kxf8 29.Rb1 Bxd4 30.Nxd4 Rxd4 31.Rxb6] 1/2-1/2 One of my great fears for the event is a glut of Petroff Defences. Its not that I object to players playing anything that will give them success its just that even if white wins it tends to be in a dull - so what? - way. The variation with 5.Nc3 doesn't seem to offer white very much (or indeed anything) but at least it avoids the exchange of pieces typical of some of the other lines. Anand would be one of the players you'd have thought capable of coming up with something more testing but either he decided to hold it back or he really has nothing on the evidence of his game against Gelfand. Indeed Gelfand held the advantage but decided a good solid draw with black against Anand was the way to start his tournament on a firm footing.

Anand,V (2792) - Gelfand,B (2733) [C42] WCh Mexico City MEX (1), 13.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 Uh oh, articificial stimulants may be required 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 Nd7 8.Qd2 Ne5 9.0-0-0 The latest attacking attempt for White. Anand very nearly smashed Alexeev flat with this at Dortmund but had a near miss 9...0-0 10.h4 Re8 11.h5 Bf6 12.Nh2 New but similiar

[12.Kb1 a6 13.Nh2 b5 14.Be2 Bb7 15.f4 Nd7 16.Bf3 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Qe7 18.Ng4 Qe6 19.Rdg1 Kh8 20.h6 g6 21.Re1 Qf5 22.Bd4 Bxd4 23.Qxd4+ f6 24.a3 Re6 25.Ne3 Qc5 26.Nd5 Rae8 27.Rxe6 Rxe6 28.Qxc5 dxc5 29.Nxc7 Rc6 30.Ne8 Kg8 31.Rd1 Nf8 32.Nd6 f5 33.a4 Ne6 34.axb5 axb5 35.Nxb5 Nxf4 36.Rd8+ Kf7 37.Rd7+ Kf6 38.Rxh7 Kg5 39.b3 Ne6 40.Kb2 Kh5 41.Rc7 Rb6 42.h7 Rb8 43.Re7 Ng5 44.f4 Nh3 45.Nc7 Rh8 46.Nd5 g5 47.fxg5 Nxg5 48.Re5 1-0 Svidler,P (2740)-Kramnik,V (2739)/Moscow RUS 2005] 12...h6 13.Be2 Be6 14.f4 Nc4 15.Bxc4 Bxc4 16.b3? When I saw this I could not believe it. I had already seen the attacking theme below in analysis to another game in this line for my newspaper column - you just have to prompt your Fritz or Rybka or whatever. 16...Bb5? Boris obviously does not read the Daily Telegraph, shameful, its on sale in Tel Aviv. But of course if you don't know the theme then a human, not even a very very strong human will find it. It was of course my computer that turned it up in a related position, not me. What's more Bb5 coming to c6 is very comfortable for Black so its a natural choice. [16...c5!!

17.bxc4 Qa5 18.Qd3 Bxc3 19.Rdf1 d5 20.cxd5 c4 is a killer. White would have to play; 16...c5!! 17.Kb2 b5 (17...Qa5) 18.Ng4 b4 19.Nxf6+ Qxf6 with a big advantage] 17.Rhg1 Re4 If White has time for g4-g5 he is winning but Black's resources are more than adequate

18.Ng4 Qe7 19.Rde1 Re8 20.Bf2 Qd8 21.Rxe4 Rxe4 22.Re1 Trying to bale out

22...Rxe1+ [At the press conference Anand mentioned 22...Rxf4 and it looks good for Black 23.Nxf6+ Qxf6 24.Bd4 Qf5 25.Re7 Bd7 and Bxa7 looks too risky although your computer might play it. A lucky escape for Anand. Gelfand possibly could not psyche himself up to believe he was better, I guess it hard to do that when you play the Petroff, unless you are Alexey Shirov] 1/2-1/2

The Marshall Defence to the Ruy Lopez has moved from a creative idea when first played to a solid defensive system for black. So much so that white quite often tries to avoid it altogether and that's what happened in the game between Grischuk and Leko. White's play never looked likely to challenge for a win and was probably slightly worse so he decided to steer for the draw. Grischuk,A (2726) - Leko,P (2751) [C88] WCh Mexico City MEX (1), 13.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 no Marshall today please, I saw what you did to Kramnik at Brissago 8...Bb7 9.d3 d6

10.a3 Qd7 11.Nc3 Rfe8 12.a4 This seems pretty weird, a3 then a4. Somehow the Anti Marshall does not seem so strong now that Kasparov has retired. Aronian in particular plays it well with Black 12...b4 13.Ne2 d5 Given White's tempo loss its not surprising Black can get away with this

14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Ng3 Bf8 [15...Bc5!? 16.Ng5 Nd4 17.Bc4] 16.a5 The question of whether a6 or a5 is more vulnerable will be answered later 16...Nd4 17.Nxd4 [17.Nxe5 Qd6 18.Nf3 Nxf3+ 19.gxf3 Nf4-/+; 17.Nxe5 Qd6 18.Nc4 Rxe1+ 19.Qxe1 Qg6 when Ba4 is met by b3! and other moves by Nxb3 which gives Black good play] 17...exd4

18.Bd2 Nf6 19.Rxe8 Rxe8 20.Bg5 Qc6 21.Qf1 Qd6 [21...Nd7 Another way to neutralise Ba4 is 22.Ba4 Qd6 23.Ne4 Bxe4 24.dxe4 Re6 25.Bd2 Nc5 26.Bxb4 Qe5 27.Bxc5 Bxc5 28.Bb3 Rf6 29.Qd3 h5 30.g3 g5 31.Rf1 h4 32.Bc4 Bd6 33.Bxa6 Qxa5 34.Bc4 Qe5 35.Kg2 hxg3 36.fxg3 Rxf1 37.Kxf1 Qxg3 38.Qxg3 1/2-1/2 Karjakin,S (2686)-Onischuk,A (2663)/Foros UKR 2007/The Week in Chess 660] 22.Re1 Re5 23.Rxe5 Qxe5 24.Bxf6 Qxf6 25.Qe2 g6 [25...Qg5 computer] 26.Qg4 Bd6 27.Ne4 Qf4 [27...Bxe4 28.Qxe4 Qe5 29.Qxe5 Bxe5 30.Bc4 c5 31.Bxa6 Bc7 looks like the

logical conclusion. This way gives White a chance he declines to take] 28.Qxf4

[28.Qxf4 Bxf4 29.Nc5 Bc8 30.Bc4 Bd6 31.Bxa6 Bxc5 32.Bxc8 and White can play on] 1/2-1/2

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Mark Crowther on Round 2 Round 2 (September 14, 2007) Kramnik, Vladimir - Morozevich, Alexander 1-0 27 E04 Catalan Gelfand, Boris - Grischuk, Alexander 1/2 23 E15 Queens Indian Svidler, Peter - Leko, Peter 1/2 43 C89 Ruy Lopez Marshall Aronian, Levon - Anand, Viswanathan 0-1 41 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752) ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 ** .. .. =. .. .. 1. .. 1.5 2939 2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 .. ** =. .. .. .. .. 1. 1.5 2934 3 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 .. =. ** .. =. .. .. .. 1.0 2759 4 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 =. .. .. ** .. =. .. .. 1.0 2760 5 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 .. .. =. .. ** =. .. .. 1.0 2742 6 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 .. .. .. =. =. ** .. .. 1.0 2730 7 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 0. .. .. .. .. .. ** =. 0.5 2566 8 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 .. 0. .. .. .. .. =. ** 0.5 2582 ---------------------------------------------------------------------Kramnik - Morozevich in PGN my IM Malcolm Pein Round 2 of the World Chess Championship Tournament in Mexico City saw its first decisive games. First to win was Viswanathan Anand who defeated Levon Aronian. Aronian confessed afterwards that Anand had played well and he had not and that seems a reasonable description of the game. Aronian,L (2750) - Anand,V (2792) [D43] WCh Mexico City MEX (2), 14.09.2007 [Crowther,Mark] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 An attempt to surprise Anand. 5...h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Ne5 h5 10.h4 g4 11.Be2 Bb7 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 15.Rad1 00 16.Bg3 Nd7 17.f3 c5N Anand and his second Peter Heine Nielsen found this only a few days before. [17...f5 18.fxg4 fxg4 19.e5 Rxf1+ 20.Rxf1 Nf8 21.Qd2 Ng6 22.Ne4 c5 23.Nf6+ Bxf6 24.Rxf6 Qxd4+ 25.Qxd4 cxd4 26.Rxg6+ Kf7 27.Rf6+ Ke7 28.Bf2 d3 29.Bd1 a5 30.Rh6 Be4 31.Rxh5 a4 32.a3 Bf5 33.Rg5 Kf7 34.Be3 b4 35.Bxg4 Rg8 36.Bh5+ Bg6 37.Rxg6 Rxg6 38.axb4 c3 39.bxc3 a3 40.c4 a2 41.Bd4 d2 42.Kf2 Ke7 43.Bd1 Rg8 44.Ke3 Rc8 45.c5 Rb8 46.Bc3 Rxb4 47.Kxd2 Rxh4 48.Bb3 Rh2 49.Bb2 Rxg2+ 50.Kc3 Re2 51.Bxa2 Rxe5 52.Ba3 Kd7 53.Kc4 Re1 54.Bb4 Ra1 55.Bb3 Kc6 56.Bd2 Ra6 57.Bd1 Ra3 58.Bb4 Ra1 59.Bf3+ Kc7 60.Kb5

Rb1 61.Be4 Rb2 62.c6 Rb3 63.Kc5 Rg3 64.Ba5+ Kc8 65.Kd6 Ra3 66.Bb4 Rb3 67.Bd2 Rb2 68.Bc3 Rb3 69.Be5 1-0 Bormida,A (2412)-Binelli,R (2476)/CAPA email 1999; 17...Qb6 18.Kh1 e5 19.d5 cxd5 20.Nxd5 Bxd5 21.Rxd5 Rad8 22.fxg4 hxg4 23.Bxg4 Nf6 24.Rxd8 Rxd8 25.Bf3 Qe3 26.Rf2 Rd3 27.Re2 Qh6 28.b3 Nh5 29.Be1 Nf4 30.bxc4 Bf6 31.g3 Rxf3 32.gxf4 Bxh4 33.Rg2+ Bg3+ 34.Kg1 exf4 35.cxb5 Qb6+ 36.Bf2 Qe6 37.Qe2 Ra3 38.Qh5 Qxe4 39.Qg5+ Qg6 40.Qxg6+ fxg6 41.Bxg3 fxg3 42.Rb2 Kf7 1/2-1/2 Vallejo Pons,F (2648)-Dreev,A (2676)/Biel 2002/CBM 091/[Lutz]] 18.dxc5 Qe7 19.Kh1 a6 20.a4 Bc6 21.Nd5?

White was already not happy about the way things had gone and after the game Aronian was critical of this move. 21...exd5 22.exd5 Be5 23.f4 Bg7 24.dxc6 Nxc5 25.Rd5 Ne4 26.Be1 Qe6! Missed by Aronian. 27.Rxh5 f5 28.Kh2 Rac8 29.Bb4 Rfe8 30.axb5 axb5 31.Re1 Qf7 32.Rg5 Nxg5 33.fxg5 Rxc6 34.Bf1 Rxe1 35.Bxe1 Re6 36.Bc3 Qc7+ 37.g3 Re3 38.Qg2 Bxc3 39.bxc3 f4 40.Qa8+ Kg7 41.Qa6 fxg3+ 0-1

Kramnik - Morozevich Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Much more interesting was Vladimir Kramnik's sacrificial win against Alexander Morozevich. His 12.e4 set up a knight sacrifice a move later. Its hard to say whether the move is sound or not but it certainly set up grave practical difficulties for Morozevich who got a long way towards

safety but only at the expense of much of his time. Kramnik actually played inaccurately on move 21 but with only four minutes left Morozevich blundered (and immediately saw the much better move) and went under quickly. That Kramnik doesn't play speculative sacrifices like this more often is I guess down to temperament rather than ability, I still remember his final two games in Brissago against Leko with great fondness where he took the brakes off. Kramnik,V (2769)- Morozevich,A (2758) [E04] WCh Mexico City MEX (2), 14.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Of course, the Catalan 3...d5 4.d4 dxc4 5.Bg2 a6 Intending to hang on to the gambit pawn with b5 6.Ne5 Kramnik prevents b7-b5 by unmasking the Catalan bishop 6...Bb4+ [6...c5 Looks natural 7.Be3 Nd5 8.dxc5!? Nxe3 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.fxe3 Ke8 11.c6!] 7.Nc3 Nd5 8.0-0!? 0-0 [It would take a brave man to test the champ's home analysis after 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bxc3 10.Rb1 Qxd4 11.Qa4+ b5 12.Qa3 (12.Rxb5 axb5 13.Qxa8 Qxe5 14.Qxb8; 12.Qc2) 12...Qxe5 13.Bf4 Qf6 14.Bxa8~~] 9.Qc2 b5 [Another way to keep the pawn was 9...Nb6!? 10.Rd1] 10.Nxd5 [10.e4 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Be7 12.a4 f6 13.Nf3 Bb7 is safe enough] 10...exd5 11.b3 White must break up the black pawns. He threatens to take twice on c4 11...c6 12.e4!!

12...f6 [Moro cannot resist 12...dxe4!? 13.bxc4 f6 14.cxb5 fxe5 15.Qb3+ Qd5 16.Qxb4 exd4 17.Ba3 Also looks very random] 13.exd5 fxe5 14.bxc4 The computer evaluation is lost for White but the Catalan bishop is about to be unleashed 14...exd4 [14...e4 15.Bxe4 Bh3 16.Rd1 Bg4 17.Be3!! Bxd1 18.Rxd1 with huge compensation; 14...Kh8!?] 15.dxc6 Be6 16.cxb5! d3? [Natural but probably wrong, there were many choices 16...Qc7 17.Rb1 (17.Qe4 Bc4 18.Bf4 Rxf4 19.Qxf4 Bd6 20.Qxd4 axb5 21.Rad1 Be5 22.Bd5+ Kh8 23.Qe4) 17...Ba5 18.Bf4 Rxf4 19.gxf4 axb5 20.Qe4 both look good for White] 17.c7!! Qd4 [17...dxc2 18.cxd8Q Rxd8 19.Bxa8 axb5 (19...Bc3 20.Bg5!) 20.Be4] 18.Qa4 Nd7 19.Be3 Qd6 20.Bxa8 Rxa8 21.Bf4?

[21.Rac1! Rc8 (21...Ne5 22.b6) 22.Rc6 Qe7 23.Qxa6 is brutally effective] 21...Qf8?? [Missing 21...Qd5! Which Morozevich saw immediately after playing Qf8. He was however down to his last couple of minutes at this stage. 22.Rac1! (22.Qxb4? Qf3!! and astonishingly Black wins !) and after 22...Bc5 23.Qxa6!? anything could happen] 22.b6! Ne5 [Its over because 22...Nxb6 23.Qc6 Bh3 24.Qxb6 Bxf1 25.Rxf1 d2 26.Qb8 wins] 23.Bxe5 Qf3 24.Qd1 Qe4 25.b7 Rf8 [25...Qxb7 26.Qxd3 Bh3 27.f3+-] 26.c8Q Bd5 27.f3 1-0 The final two games were much tamer affairs. Peter Svidler bemoaned the fact that he still hadn't found the "Holy Grail, the refutation of the Marshall". Svidler felt he had a clear pawn out of the opening but miscalculated his chances when returning it later on and was disappointed not to win.

Svidler - Leko Round 2 Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Svidler,P (2735) - Leko,P (2751) [C89] WCh Mexico City MEX (2), 14.09.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Qe2 [15.Bxd5 cxd5 16.Qf3 Bf5 17.Qxd5 Rae8 18.Re3 Qh5 19.f3 Qg6 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.Nd2 Bxg3 22.Ne4 Bh4+ 0-1 Foltys,J-

Thelen,B/Prague 1943] 15...Bg4 16.Qf1 Qh5 17.Nd2 Rae8 [17...Kh8 18.Ne4 Bc7 19.Bd2 f5 20.Nc5 f4 21.Qd3 fxg3 22.fxg3 Rf3 23.Qe4 Bxg3 24.Re2 Rff8 25.Rg2 Bf3 26.Bd1 Bxe4 27.Bxh5 Bxg2 28.hxg3 Bf3 29.Bxf3 Rxf3 30.Kg2 Rf7 31.Re1 Re7 32.Kf3 Rxe1 33.Bxe1 Rf8+ 34.Kg4 Re8 35.Nd3 Re3 36.Ne5 Rxe1 37.Nxc6 Re2 38.b3 Nxc3 39.a3 Ra2 40.a4 bxa4 41.bxa4 Rxa4 0-1 Nolan,K-Watson,J/Sydney 2002/EXT 2003] 18.Rxe8 Rxe8 19.f3 Bf5 20.Ne4 Bc7 21.Bd2 Qg6 22.Re1 Bxe4 23.Rxe4 Rxe4 24.Bc2 f5 25.fxe4 fxe4 26.Qg2 Nf6 27.Qh3 Ng4 28.Bb3+ Kf8 29.Bd1 e3 30.Bc1 h5 31.Bxg4 hxg4 32.Qf1+ Ke8 33.Bxe3 Kd7 34.Qe2 Qf5 35.b3 g6 36.Bf2 Bd6 37.c4 bxc4 38.bxc4 Bc7 39.d5 cxd5 40.cxd5 Bd6 41.a4 Qb1+ 42.Kg2 Qf5 43.Kg1 1/2-1/2 Gelfand - Grischuk was just one of those games where things never looked like getting terribly exciting and the players called it off after 23 moves. Gelfand,B (2733) - Grischuk,A (2726) [E15] WCh Mexico City MEX (2), 14.09.2007 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb7 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 c5 8.Bxb4 cxb4 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qd3 Be4 11.Qe3 Nc6 12.Nbd2 d5 13.Rfc1 [13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Nd2 Nc3 15.Nb1 Nxd4 16.Nxc3 Nc2 17.Qc1 Nxa1 18.Nb5 a6 19.Nd4 Nxb3 20.axb3 Rc8 21.Rd1 Qf6 22.e4 Rfd8 23.Qb1 dxc4 24.Nc6 Rxd1+ 25.Qxd1 e5 26.Nxb4 cxb3 27.Nd5 Qd6 28.Qxb3 Rc1+ 29.Bf1 b5 30.Kg2 Qc5 31.Bd3 Qd6 32.Bc2 Qc5 33.Bd3 Qd6 34.Bc2 Qc5 1/2-1/2 Dokhoian,Y (2575)Romanishin,O (2555)/Yerevan 1989] 13...Rc8 14.cxd5 Bxd5 15.Qd3 Bxf3 16.Nxf3 Nd5 17.Rc4 Nc3 18.a3 b5 19.Rxc6 Rxc6 20.Ng5 Qxg5 21.Bxc6 Rc8 22.Bb7 Rc7 23.axb4 The matter of the Sofia Rule was aired at the press conference, since both players had agreed to early draws in their games - this one in 23 moves. They responded by saying, in effect, that if a draw is justified, why not agree to split the point? Gelfand thought that he had the better pawn structure at the end but little else. His decision to play a rook to c1 was questioned, but defended by his opponent as correct. Mild criticism persisted, one person saying that the chess-playing public expected in Mexico expected wins. Grischuk replied that he for one did not play for draws, and went on to say that a draw was the probable result between strong, equally matched opponents. Even so, the feeling in the room was that the players have an obligation to make the game more exciting for the fans. Both GMs continued to defend their current performance, and the conference ended. 1/2-1/2

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Mark Crowther on Round 3 Round 3 (September 15, 2007) Anand, Viswanathan - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 65 C42 Petroff's Defence Grischuk, Alexander - Aronian, Levon 1/2 31 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Leko, Peter - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 100 C42 Petroff's Defence Morozevich, Alexander - Svidler, Peter 1-0 37 C45 Scotch Game WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752) ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 ** =. .. .. .. 1. =. .. 2.0 2886 2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 =. ** =. .. .. .. .. 1. 2.0 2875 3 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 .. =. ** =. =. .. .. .. 1.5 2756 4 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 .. .. =. ** =. .. .. =. 1.5 2744 5 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 .. .. =. =. ** .. =. .. 1.5 2731 6 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 0. .. .. .. .. ** 1. =. 1.5 2751 7 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 =. .. .. .. =. 0. ** .. 1.0 2634 8 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 .. 0. .. =. .. =. .. ** 1.0 2633 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Malcolm Pein's Rd3 Notes in PGN Round 3 proved to be a good deal more interesting than we had any right to expect. I was extremely pessimistic at the start as we saw two Petroff Defences but those two last the longest. However in both games black was the one that ended up pressing hardly encouraging those of us who feel that its a scourge on the game. The trouble with with the opening is that white has given up playing the sharpest variations as they tend to fizzle out to draws. So instead we see approaches merely designed to keep some pieces on and some interest in the game but even in these, I would say at the elite level, black must be pretty close to a 50% score. I had hoped for some new dynamic ideas for white for this event but we haven't seen any yet and probably there aren't any.

Anand - Kramnik Round 3. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. The game of the day was the first battle between the two leaders. Anand was one of the two players faced with the Petroff and his answer was to walk into a 24 move piece of Kramnik preparation which left the Russian with the opportunity of a risk free chance to play for a win. Anand held his nerve and the game but it can't have been an especially fun day at the office for him. Even at this early stage I'm pretty impressed with Kramnik's form and also Anand is playing OK if his two opening attempts at taking on the Petroff have been quite poor. Anand,V (2792) - Kramnik,V (2769) [C42] WCh Mexico City MEX (3), 15.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0-0 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6 13.Re1 Re8 14.cxd5 Qxd5 15.Bf4 Perhaps one game in five White achieves a serious edge in this line but getting one against Kramnik who has analysed it for WCC matches seems well nigh impossible. Maybe Grischuk who beat Adams in this line will have a go

15...Rac8 16.Qa4 Bd7 17.Qc2N A novelty but not a surprise for black. [17.Rab1 Qf5 18.Bg3 Bf8 19.Rb5 Qf6 20.Rxb7 Nd8 21.Qxd7 Nxb7 22.Be5 Qd8 23.Qg4 Nd6 24.h4 Rb8 25.c4 f6 26.c5 fxe5 27.cxd6 cxd6 28.dxe5 Be7 29.Bd3 Rf8 30.Qh5 g6 31.Bxg6 hxg6 32.Qxg6+ Kh8 33.Re4 Rxf3 34.Qh6+ Kg8 35.Rg4+ 1-0 Shirov,A (2723)-Gelfand,B (2700)/Monte Carlo 2003/CBM 093 ext] 17...Qf5 18.Qxf5 Bxf5 19.Bb5 Optically this looks dangerous but Kramnik's deep preparation has it covered 19...Bd7 20.d5 Ne5 21.Bxd7 Nxd7

22.Bxc7 Rxc7 23.d6 Rxc3 24.dxe7

[24.Rxe7 Rxe7 25.dxe7 Nf6 26.Rd1 Ne8 27.Rd8 (27.Nd4 Rc7 28.Nb5 Rxe7 29.Nxa7= is probably the best bale out) 27...Rc1+] 24...f6 According to Kramnik he was still in home analysis 25.Rad1 Rc7 26.Nd4 Ne5! [26...Kf7 27.Ne6] 27.f4 Nc6!=/+ [27...Ng6 28.Nb5=] 28.Nxc6 bxc6 29.Rd6 c5 30.Ree6 e7 is lost so Vishy ensures he removes the dangerous c pawn 30...c4 31.Rc6 Rexe7 32.Rxc4

32...Rxc4 33.Rxe7 Ra4 34.Rb7 [34.Re3 Rxf4-/+] 34...h6 35.f5 Rxa3 36.Kf2 h5 37.g3 a5 This ending is drawn with best play. Anand lost a simialr one to Kasparov four years ago. 38.Ra7

38...a4 [38...h4!? 39.gxh4 Kh7 40.Kg2 Kh6 41.Kf2 g5! 42.fxg6 Kxg6 might win for Black because in such positions when the pawn reaches a2 the white king must stay on g2 and h2. With a passed f pawn Black can engineer f6-f5-f4-f3+ forcing the king out; 38...h4 39.Kg2 Ra2+ 40.Kf3 a4] 39.h4 Confidently played, now its a draw. Its well known that if the Black pawn gets to a2 the king cannot shelter but if Black plays the pawn to a3 and tries to run the king to a2 he loses pawns in the process

39...Ra2+ 40.Kf3 a3 41.Ke3 Ra1 42.Kf2 Kf8 43.Kg2 a2 44.Kh2 Ke8 45.Kg2 [45.Rxg7?? Rh1+] 45...Kd8 46.Kh2 Kc8 47.Kg2 Kb8 48.Ra3 Kb7 49.Ra4 Kb6 50.Ra8 Kc5 51.Ra7 Kd5 52.Ra4 Ke5 53.Ra5+ Ke4 54.Kh2 Kf3 55.Ra3+ Kf2 56.Ra4 Kf1 57.Kh1! [57.Ra7? Re1 58.Rxa2 Re2+ 59.Rxe2 Kxe2-+] 57...Ke1 58.Kg2! I am sure both players had seen the finish coming a long way off 58...Kd1 59.Ra7 Rc1 60.Rxa2 Rc2+ 61.Rxc2 Kxc2 62.Kf3 Kd3 63.g4 hxg4+ 64.Kxg4 Ke4 65.Kh5 Kxf5

1/2-1/2

Morozevich (right) - Svidler Round 3. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. The only decisive game of the day was that between Alexander Morozevich and Peter Svidler. Morozevich found an unusual approach in the Scotch and Peter Svidler after getting a perfectly satisfactory opening never settled to the task and received a horrible beating. Morozevich,A (2758) - Svidler,P (2735) [C45] WCh Mexico City MEX (3), 15.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 [5.Nxc6 Qf6 6.Qf3 is not Moro's style] 5...Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bc4 0-0 8.0-0 Ne5 9.Bb3 [Slightly unusual 9.Be2 is the main line] 9...d6 10.f3 Be6 11.Kh1 [11.Nxe6?? Bxe3+] 11...Bc4 12.Rf2 d5 Black has a very easy game with ideas of Nd3 and Rad8

13.Bc2 [13.Nd2 Nd3 14.Re2 Nxb2 would be a complete fiasco] 13...dxe4 [13...Rad8 14.f4 Qh6 15.b3 Ba6 and the tactics work for Black, White cannot develop easily] 14.Nd2!

14...Bd3?! [14...Nd5 15.Nxe4 Qb6 is still comfortable for Black, for example if 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bh4 (17.Nxc5 Qxc5 18.Bc1 Rad8) 17...Ne3 so 17.Bc1 is necessary; Not 14...exf3 15.Nxc4 Nxc4 16.Qd3 wins a piece] 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.fxe4 Qg6= The weak e4 pawn and passive Bc2 as well as the strong Ne5 mean Black is doing alright even now

17.Rf4 [17.Nf5 Nxf5 18.exf5 (18.Bxc5 Rad8 19.Qe2 Nd6= as long as that knight is on e5 Black can't be worse) 18...Qb6=] 17...Nc4?! A strange sequence of play follows during which Black's position goes from equal to lost very quickly [17...Rad8] 18.Bg1 Qh6 19.Rf3 Qd2? bad day at the office

[19...Ne5 admitting the error or ; 19...Bb6; 19...Nxb2 20.Qf1 Followed by e5 and all White's pieces are released] 20.Qb1 Threatening Nb3 [20.Ne6 fxe6 21.Rxf8+ Kxf8 22.Bxc5 was also good] 20...Bb6 21.Bb3! Bxd4? [Grim but now not even 21...Ne5 does not save Black 22.Be3 Qd3 23.Qxd3 Nxd3 24.Bg5; 21...Nxb2 22.Be3 Qxc3 23.Ne2 Qd3 24.Qxb2] 22.cxd4 Na5 23.Bc2 Black will be driven back in confusion

23...Rad8 24.Rc3 Nac6 [24...Rd7] 25.d5 Winning 25...Nb4 26.Bb3 Na6 Black must lose material 27.Be3 Qe2 28.Bc4 Qg4 29.h3 Qh4 30.Bxa6 bxa6 31.Rxc7 f5 A last desperate try. 32.Bc5 Rfe8 33.d6 Ng6 34.exf5 Nf4 35.Qc2 Re2 36.Qb3+ Kh8 37.Rg1

1-0

Aronian - Grischuk Round 3. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Alexander Grischuk and Levon Aronian are the two youngest players in the tournament and they played a lively round 3 game. Aronian's pawn grab left him on the bad side of a strong initiative and it was only due to his opponents time trouble that he escaped with a draw. I'm already getting the feeling that Aronian isn't in top form and that pre-event predictions from many including myself that he might win this event are a bit short of the mark. Grischuk,A (2726) - Aronian,L (2750) [C88] WCh Mexico City MEX (3), 15.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.c3 [11.Nxe5 Nxe5 (11...Nd4! is the move when Black gets the two bishops and good play) 12.Rxe5 Qd7 is known to be insufficient (12...Bf6 13.Re1 Qd6 14.Nd2 Rae8 15.Ne4 Qc6 16.Bxd5 Qxd5 17.Nxf6+ gxf6 18.Qg4+ Kh8 19.Bh6 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 1-0 Manik,M (2345)Valenta,V (2320)/Lazne Bohdanec CZE 1996) 13.Qg4 Qd6 14.Re1 Rae8 15.Nc3 Nf6 16.Bf4 Qb6 17.Qg3 1/2-1/2 Parma,B-Harandi,K (2270)/Siegen 1970/EXT 2002 (41)] 11...Bf6 [11...Qd6

Kamsky-Bacrot Candidates sf Elista 2007] 12.Nbd2 Nf4 13.Ne4 Nxd3 Otherwise Black is worse of course but this is risky [13...Be7 14.d4] 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Re4 Nxc1 16.Rg4+ Kh8 17.Qxc1 Ne7 18.Bc2 Rg8 19.Qh6 Ng6 Black repels the first assault 20.Nh4 Qf8 21.Qh5 Qe8 22.Re1 Rd8 23.Bf5 Bc8 24.Bxc8 Rxc8 and the second 25.Nf5 Qd7 26.Ree4 Rcd8 27.Kh2 Qd1?

Black needs to keep attacking the knight on f5. [27...Qe6 28.Rxg6! fxg6 29.Qxh7+ Kxh7 30.Rh4#; 27...Qe6 28.Rxg6 Rxg6 29.Rh4 Kg8 30.Qxh7+ Kf8 31.Qh8+ Rg8 32.Qh6+ Ke8 33.Ng7+ Rxg7 34.Qxg7 and Black should hold this] 28.Nh6 White was short of time and misses the decisive: [28.Qh6 Threat Rh4 Nxh4 Qxf6+ 28...Qd2 29.f4 exf4 30.Rh4 Qxg2+ 31.Kxg2 Nxh4+ 32.Kf2 Rd2+ 33.Re2 Rxe2+ 34.Kxe2 Nxf5 35.Qxf6+ Ng7 36.Qxf4 wins for white.] 28...Rg7 29.Nf5 Rgg8 30.Nh6 Rg7 31.Nf5 1/2-1/2

Leko - Gelfand Round 3. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Another Petroff Defence. Peter Leko played quite an interesting and dynamic idea, splitting his kingside pawns in return for the inititiative. Boris Gelfand defended correctly and a draw should have been the outcome at first time control. However Leko over pressed and ended up defending a Queen and Pawn ending a pawn down. It does however appear that with best play white should hold and this he did after 100 moves.

Leko,P (2751) - Gelfand,B (2733) [C42] WCh Mexico City MEX (3), 15.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 Nd7 8.Qd2 Ne5 9.0-00 0-0 10.h3N

[10.h4 Re8 11.h5 Bf6 12.Nh2 h6 13.Be2 Be6 14.f4 Nc4 15.Bxc4 Bxc4 16.b3 Bb5 17.Rhg1 Re4 18.Ng4 Qe7 19.Rde1 Re8 20.Bf2 Qd8 21.Rxe4 Rxe4 22.Re1 Rxe1+ 1/2-1/2 Anand,V (2792)Gelfand,B (2733)/Mexico City MEX 2007] 10...Nxf3 11.gxf3 Bf5 White has shattered his pawn structure in return for an open g-file. Althoug Black is solid he has little counterplay and Leko starts to make progress 12.h4 Re8 13.h5 Bf6 14.Rg1 Qe7 15.Kb1 d5 16.Bd3 Bxd3 17.Qxd3 Rad8 18.Rg4 Kh8 19.a3 b6 20.Rdg1 h6 21.Qd2 Kh7 22.Bd4 Rg8 23.Re1 Qd6 24.Bxf6 gxf6 Something tangible [24...Qxf6 25.Rf4] 25.Qd3+ Kh8 26.Qa6 Rxg4 27.fxg4 Qc6 28.Re7 [28.Qxa7 Ra8] 28...Qd6 29.Re3 Qc6 30.Qd3 Kg7 31.Re7 Kf8 32.Re1 Kg7 33.f4 Qd6 34.Qf3 [34.Qd2!? followed by g5] 34...c5 35.Qf2 d4 36.Rd1 Qe6 37.Re1 Qd5 38.Rd1 Qe6 39.Qg1?! Qe4

40.g5? A highly commital move on the last move before time-control which leads to a lot of unnecesaary suffering particularly for European spectators ! 40...fxg5 41.fxg5 d3!

Now black has all the winning chances. 42.cxd3 Rxd3 43.Rxd3 Qxd3+ 44.Ka1 Qf5 45.g6! I think this is a good idea, probably the f-pawn would be easier to win with.

45...fxg6 46.hxg6 h5 47.Qg3 Qf1+ It seems that the black h-pawn just isn't enough to win as White has so many checks. Also because the White king is well sheltered its hard to organise the classic answering a check with a check idea. [47...Qxg6 48.Qe5+] 48.Ka2 Qc4+ 49.Ka1 Qf1+ 50.Ka2 Qc4+ 51.Ka1 Qg4 52.Qc7+ Kxg6 53.Qxa7 Qd1+ 54.Ka2 Qd5+ 55.Ka1 Qd1+ 56.Ka2 Qd6 57.Qa8 Qe6+ 58.Ka1 Qe1+ 59.Ka2 Qe6+ 60.Ka1 h4 61.Qg2+ Kh5 62.Qf3+ Kg5 63.Qg2+ Kh5 64.Qf3+ Kg5 65.Qg2+ Qg4 66.Qd2+ Kf5 67.Qd5+ Kf4 68.Qd6+ Kf3 69.Qf6+ Kg2 70.Qc6+ Qf3 71.Qg6+ Kf1 72.Qxb6 h3 73.Qd6 Qf2 74.Qd3+ Leko maintains accuracy throughout

74...Kg2 75.Qd5+ Kg1 76.Ka2 Qf4 77.Qxc5+ Kf1 78.Qb5+ Ke1 79.Qd5 h2 80.c4 Qh4 81.Qe5+ Kd1 82.Qd5+ Ke2 83.Qe5+ Kd1 84.Qd5+ Kc1 85.Qh1+ Kd2 86.Qd5+ Ke3 87.Qe5+ Kf3 88.Qf5+ Qf4 89.Qd3+ Kf2 90.Qd5 Kg1 91.Qg8+ Kf2 92.Qd5 Qf3 93.Qd2+ Kg1 94.Qg5+ Kf1 95.Qc1+ Kf2 96.Qd2+ Kg3 97.Qg5+ Kh3 98.Qh6+ Kg3 99.Qg5+ Qg4 100.Qd5 Qf3

1/2-1/2

World Youth Championships Antalya, Turkey

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Mark Crowther on Round 4 Round 4 (September 16, 2007) Kramnik, Vladimir - Grischuk, Alexander 1/2 60 E06 Catalan Morozevich, Alexander - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 61 D47 Queens Gambit Meran Aronian, Levon - Leko, Peter 1-0 45 A33 English Symmetrical Svidler, Peter - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 24 C42 Petroff's Defence WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752) ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 ** =. .. =. =. 1. .. .. 2.5 2847 2 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 =. ** =. .. 1. .. =. .. 2.5 2847 3 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 .. =. ** =. .. =. .. =. 2.0 2750 4 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 =. .. =. ** .. .. =. =. 2.0 2751 5 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 =. 0. .. .. ** =. 1. .. 2.0 2761 6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 0. .. =. .. =. ** .. 1. 2.0 2756 7 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 .. =. .. =. 0. .. ** =. 1.5 2665 8 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 .. .. =. =. .. 0. =. ** 1.5 2649 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Anand will be disappointed not to win in Round 4. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Round 4 saw a day of surprises, especially for those of us who went to bed just after the first time control. The first game to finish was that between Peter Svidler and Boris Gelfand. Readers will no doubt have picked up that I hate what the Petroff is doing to chess (except I prefer games starting with 1.d4 and maybe 1.e4 won't be played so much). It is a dull, dull opening leading mostly to boring chess. This is however not a problem for those who play it as black, it is for white to find a way to counter it. The problem has been around for some time now and you would have thought that there would have been some brand new approach brought by one of the 1.e4 players as the opening absolutely threatens their ability to play for a win with white. As it is Anand has had two very poor attempts against the opening and Svidler's try in game 4 never looked likely to stretch Gelfand (who has switched from the Sicilian because the merits of the Petroff for him in this event are so manifest). I've never been convinced 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 offers white much at all and it always seems to me that its more about keeping the pieces on rather than white expecting anything significant. Svidler,P (2735) - Gelfand,B (2733) [C42] WCh Mexico City MEX (4), 16.09.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Nc5 10.Be3 Re8 11.Bc4 Be6 12.Bxe6 Nxe6 13.h4 Qd7 14.Qd5 [14.Qd3 Qa4 15.Ng5 Nf8 16.Qd5 Bxg5 17.hxg5 Qe4 18.c4 Qxd5 19.cxd5 Nd7 20.Rd3 f6 21.Rc3 Rac8 22.Rh4 Re7 23.Rhc4 Nb6 24.Bxb6 axb6 25.gxf6 gxf6 26.a4 Kf8 27.Kd2 Rg7 28.g3 Ke8 29.Rf3 Rg6 30.Rh4 h6 31.Re4+ Kd7 32.Re6 Rf8 33.c4 h5 34.Rf5 Rg4 35.b3 h4 36.gxh4 Rxh4 37.Rfxf6 Rxf6 38.Rxf6 Ke7 39.Re6+ Kf7 40.Re3 Rh1 41.Rf3+ Ke7 42.Ke3 Re1+ 43.Kf4 Kf6 44.Rh3 Re2 45.Rh7 Rxf2+ 46.Ke3 Rb2 47.Rxc7 Rxb3+ 48.Kd4 Rb4 49.Rd7 Rxa4 50.Rxd6+ Ke7 51.Rxb6 Ra7 52.c5 Kd8 53.Ke5 Kc7 54.Rh6 Ra5 55.Rh7+ Kb8 56.Rh8+ Ka7 57.d6 Rxc5+ 58.Ke6 Rc6 59.Ke7 1-0 Svidler,P (2765)-Bacrot,E (2717)/Morelia/Linares 2006/CBM 112] 14...Qc6 15.Qf5 Nf8 16.h5N [16.Nd4 Qc4 17.Kb1 Bf6 18.Qf3 Nd7 19.g4 Bxd4 20.Rxd4 Qc6 21.Qxc6 bxc6 22.g5 c5 23.Rf4 Re5 24.Kc1 Nb6 25.Re1 Rae8 26.Kd1 R8e6 27.Bd2 f6 28.Rg1 Kf7 29.h5 c4 30.g6+ hxg6 31.hxg6+ Kg8 32.Be3 Nd5 33.Rh4 Nxe3+ 34.fxe3 Re4 35.Rgh1 Rxh4 36.Rxh4 d5

37.Rd4 c6 38.Ke2 f5 39.b3 Rxg6 40.bxc4 dxc4 41.Rxc4 Re6 42.Kf3 Kf7 43.Ra4 Re7 44.Rc4 Rc7 45.e4 fxe4+ 46.Kxe4 Kf6 47.Rc5 1/2-1/2 Naiditsch,A (2657)-Bacrot,E (2717)/Montpellier FRA 2006/The Week in Chess 596] 16...Qd7

17.Qd5 [17.Qd3 was suggested afterwards by Svidler just to keep the queens on.] 17...Qe6 18.c4 Qxd5 19.cxd5 There is nothing in the position. 19...Nd7 20.Nd4 Nf6 21.Nf5 Bf8 22.Bd4 Nxd5 23.Bxg7 Ne7 24.Nxe7+ Rxe7 Svidler's second Motlylev arrives in the next couple of days, maybe he has something against the Petroff. You can't blame Gelfand for playing it however he's had a very comfortable time with black. 1/2-1/2

Morozevich can count himself lucky in his game against Anand in Round 4. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Anand has had two games with white against the aforementioned Petroff and achieved nothing. The same cannot be said for his play with black where he won a nice game against Aronian and then seemed well on his way to victory against Alexander Morozevich on move 30 when the first of two rather strange results occurred. Anand probably had many ways to win after 30.Rc7 which may have been part of the problem. Morozevich certainly put up some strong resistance and this seems to have had a depressing effect on Anand who called off the hunt on move 55 just when victory seemed in his grasp.

Morozevich,A (2758) - Anand,V (2792) [D48] WCh Mexico City MEX (4), 16.09.2007 [Crowther,Mark] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0-0 a6 10.e4 c5 11.d5 c4 12.Bc2 Qc7 13.dxe6 fxe6 14.Nd4 Nc5 15.Be3 e5 16.Nf5 g6N [16...Rd8 17.Qf3 Bd6 18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.exd5 0-0 20.Qh3 e4 21.b3 Be5 22.Rad1 Nd3 23.bxc4 bxc4 24.d6 Qd7 25.f3 exf3 26.Rxd3 cxd3 27.Ne7+ Kf7 28.Bb3+ Ke8 29.Nf5 Ng4 30.Qxg4 Qxf5 31.Ba4+ Rd7 32.Bxd7+ Kxd7 33.Qa4+ Ke6 34.Rxf3 Qh5 35.Qc4+ Kd7 36.Qc7+ Ke6 37.Qe7+ Kd5 38.Qxf8 1-0 Akesson,R (2467)-Hole,O (2243)/Gausdal NOR 2001/The Week in Chess 324; 16...Ncxe4 17.Nxe4 Nxe4 18.a4 Nf6 19.axb5 axb5 20.Rxa8+ Bxa8 21.Qe2 Bb4 22.Bf4 0-0 23.Bxe5 Qc6 24.f4 Rd8 25.Kh1 1/2-1/2 Savchenko,S (2580)-Galkin,A (2425)/Azov 1996] 17.Nh6 Played pretty quickly. 17...Bg7 18.Qf3 But now Morozevich really has to start to think. 18...Ne6 19.Qh3 Bc8 20.Qh4 Qe7 21.Rfe1 Nd5 22.Qxe7+ Nxe7 23.Nd5?!

Already starting to give ground. [23.a4 was the move according to Morozevich afterwards. 23...Nf4 was the move he feared but 24.g3 is OK.] 23...Bb7 24.Ng4 Nd4 25.Bd1 Nxd5 26.exd5 0-0-0 27.Bg5 Rxd5 28.b3 [28.Ne3] 28...c3 29.Ne3 Rc5 30.Rc1 Rc7 Black is just winning. 31.b4 Kb8 32.h3 h6 33.Bh4 Nf5 34.Nxf5 gxf5 35.Bc2 Rc4 36.Be7 e4 37.Bb3 Rd4 38.Bc5 Rd3 39.Be6 Bc8 40.Bb3 Re8 41.Bf7 Re5 42.Be3 Re7 43.Bg6 Be6 Its hard to say where black goes wrong but maybe now is the time to bring up the King. [43...Kc7] 44.h4 Bxa2 45.Bxf5 Bd5 46.Bc5 Re8 47.f3 Getting some counterplay going. 47...Kb7 48.fxe4 Bc6 49.Kf2 Rd2+ 50.Ke3 Be5 51.Kf3 Red8 52.Re3 Rg8 [Anand's planned 52...c2 53.Re2 R8d3+ 54.Be3 turns out to be nothing.] 53.g4 Rh2 54.h5 Rd8 55.g5

Is pretty unpleasant" according to Anand straight after the game but it seems that this moment of loss of confidence is where the final win went. 55...Rxh5? [55...Rdd2 even seems fairly straightforward.] 56.Be7 Re8 [56...Rd2] 57.Kg4 Rh2 58.Bf6 Rg2+ 59.Kh3 Rh2+ 60.Kg4 Rg2+ 61.Kh3 Anand looked certain to win and will be very disappointed. 1/2-1/2

Maybe the long round 3 had a spill over for Leko against Aronian in Round 4. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Levon Aronian vs Peter Leko. Leko emerged from a Symetrical English with a good position but a combination of slow play in the opening and a lapse cost him heavily. Leko said in his press conference "It was just a nightmare. I spent all my time in the beginning trying to understand what physically my opponent wants in this position and there was no need to think so long because probably he didn't want anything special and OK I just got a very comfortable position. But already spent quite a lot of time. That was also the reason I went for a repetition of moves because I think the position is already quite playable for black. But then since since Levon wanted to fight. He played this f4 which gave me a wonderful position and OK I had many choices but the simplest one was not to play Bd8 but to play Be7 and next move Nf6 and I think its much more easy to play with black. White has to play some g3, h3 but b5 is hanging in the air but it just looks like a dream. But somehow I played too quickly with Bd8

which might not be a blunder objectively but I was so angry that I missed something very simple. Not the move e5 but after e5 I thought I had many possibilities and suddenly I realised what I wanted to play was just a blunder. And then this piece sacrifice which was of course just the worst possible choice. But just one move before this Be7 and Nf6 just a dream." (Check out http://webcast.chessclub.com/Mexico07/Macauley/day4/day4.html which is Macauley Peterson's video along with Mig Greengard's commentary which includes this press conference.) Aronian,L (2750) - Leko,P (2751) [A33] WCh Mexico City MEX (4), 16.09.2007 [Crowther,Mark] 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.a3 Be7 7.e4 0-0 8.Nf3 d6 9.Be2 b6 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Bf4 Ne5 12.Nd2 Ng6 13.Bg3 Rc8 [13...d5 14.exd5 exd5 15.Bf3 Qd7 16.cxd5 Nxd5 17.Nc4 Rfd8 18.Nxd5 1/2-1/2 Roeder,M (2404)-Ninov,N (2486)/Cutro ITA 2005/The Week in Chess 547] 14.Re1 a6 15.Rc1 Qc7 16.b4 Qb8 17.Bf1 Rfd8 18.Qe2 Nd7 19.Qe3 h6 20.Nf3 Ba8 21.Red1 Nde5 22.Nd2 Ng4 23.Qe2 N4e5 24.f4 Nd7 25.Nf3 Bf6 26.Qe3 Re8 27.Be1

The hedgehog system is all about manoevering for each side. Black always has to calculate the many breaks and white has to be careful that when he does go for it black's well placed pieces don't counter attack successfully. 27...Bd8? [27...Be7 followed by Nf6 was the plan, indeed Leko was claiming this was even better for black after the game.] 28.e5 White strikes just at the right moment. 28...dxe5? Black is in a bad way but this makes things a lot easier for white. [28...Bc7 29.Ne4 Bxe4 30.Qxe4 is highly unpleasant for black but at least white has some work to do. ] 29.Rxd7 exf4 30.Qe2 e5 31.Ne4 All white has to do is stop the pawns rolling. 31...Be7 [31...f5 32.Nd6 Bc6 33.Rxd8 Rcxd8 34.Nxe8 Rxe8] 32.c5 bxc5 33.bxc5 Bc6 34.Rdd1 Bb5 35.Qb2 Qa7 36.Bxb5 axb5 37.Bf2 Qa8 38.Nd6 White is now clearly winning. 38...e4 Finally the pawns roll but only at the cost of a whole rook. 39.Nxe8 Rxe8 40.Nd4 Bf6 41.c6 e3 42.Be1 f3 43.gxf3 Nf4 44.Bg3 Ne6 45.Qb4 I can't help feeling that the real blunder was 40.g5?.... in the game against Gelfand in the previous round! A stressful 100 move defence the previous day probably caused Leko the problems in this. 1-0

Kramnik grabbed a pawn straight from preparation in Round 4. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. The second odd result of the day was Vladimir Kramnik's draw against Alexander Grischuk. Kramnik looks to me the best prepared player in the event and a win today would have just confirmed his good form. He pushed Grischuk into terrible time trouble with a critical pawn grab (all prepared) in the opening. Grischuk is a well known blitz expert and he certainly came up with the goods in the run up to first time control when his position looked under severe threat. Kramnik had a huge time advantage on the run up to first time control but he used most of it on 38.Rxa7 when perhaps there were better alternatives. The ending may well be winning with very accurate play but Kramnik really didn't find anything and the game was drawn on move 60. Kramnik,V (2769) - Grischuk,A (2726) [E05] WCh Mexico City MEX (4), 16.09.2007 [Crowther,Mark] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Ra7 11.a3 Nbd7 [11...Be4 12.Qc1 Nbd7 (12...a5 13.Nc3 Bc6 14.Bg5 Nbd7 15.Qe3 Qa8 16.Rfc1 Rc8 1/2-1/2 Kveinys,A (2510)-Rustemov,A (2564)/Lubniewice 2005) 13.Ba5 Qa8 14.Nc3 Bc6 15.Re1 Ne4 16.b4 Bd6 17.a4 Nxc3 18.Qxc3 Nf6 19.Nh4 1/2-1/2 Atalik,E (2399)Bensdorp,M (2230)/Wijk aan Zee NED 2006/The Week in Chess 586] 12.Ba5 Qa8 13.Qxc7 Clearly preparation white grabs a pawn in return for letting black's rook into his second rank. 13...Rc8 14.Qf4 Rc2 15.Nbd2 Rxb2 16.Rfc1 Nd5 17.Qe4 b4 Black used a lot of time he was most concerned about losing his rook. 18.Qd3 bxa3 19.Nc4 Bc6 20.Nxa3 Bb5 21.Nc4 Bb4 22.Qd1 Bxc4 23.Rxc4 Bxa5 24.Rxa5 Qb8 25.Nd2 N5b6 26.Rc1 g6 27.Ne4 Rb5 28.Ra2 a5 29.Nc5 Qd6 30.Nb7 Qb8 31.Qd3 Rh5 32.Nc5 Nd5 33.Qc4 White has done a nice job in putting black's rook out of play. 33...N5b6 34.Qc3 Nd5 35.Qa1 Nxc5 36.Rxc5 Nb4 37.Raxa5 Nc2 Black was in horrible time pressure but found a very interesting resource. 38.Rxa7

Played after a long thought and going for a tricky endgame which is entirely in Kramnik's style. However black would have been glad to first time control with at least a chance of saving the game. [38.Qa4 Looks very strong.] 38...Nxa1 39.Ra8 Qxa8 40.Bxa8 Rxc5 41.dxc5 Kf8 42.c6 Ke7 43.c7 Kd7 44.Bc6+ Kxc7 45.Ba4 Kb6 46.Kg2 Kc5 47.Kf3 Kb4 48.Be8 f6 49.Bf7 Nb3 50.e3?! White doesn't seem to have any chances after this. [50.Bg8 getting on with harrassing black's pawns seems better in retrospect.] 50...Nc5 51.h4 Kc3 52.Bg8 h6 53.Bf7 g5 54.Kg4 Ne4 55.hxg5 hxg5 56.Bxe6 Nxf2+ 57.Kf5 Kd3 58.Kxf6 Ne4+ 59.Kg6 Nxg3 60.Kxg5 Kxe3 Big misses for both Anand and Kramnik in this round. 1/2-1/2

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Books 2000/1/2/3

Round 4 16th September 2007 by IM Malcolm Pein

Anand will be disappointed not to win in Round 4. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Round 4 (September 16, 2007) Kramnik, Vladimir - Grischuk, Alexander 1/2 60 E06 Catalan Morozevich, Alexander - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 61 D47 Queens Gambit Meran Aronian, Levon - Leko, Peter 1-0 45 A33 English Symmetrical Svidler, Peter - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 24 C42 Petroff's Defence WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752) ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 ** =. .. =. =. 1. .. .. 2.5 2847 2 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 =. ** =. .. 1. .. =. .. 2.5 2847 3 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 .. =. ** =. .. =. .. =. 2.0 2750 4 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 =. .. =. ** .. .. =. =. 2.0 2751 5 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 =. 0. .. .. ** =. 1. .. 2.0 2761 6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 0. .. =. .. =. ** .. 1. 2.0 2756 7 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 .. =. .. =. 0. .. ** =. 1.5 2665 8 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 .. .. =. =. .. 0. =. ** 1.5 2649

---------------------------------------------------------------------Malcolm Pein Notes Rounds 4-10 in PGN Two more escapes from seemingly hopeless situations ensured that the Fide World Championship tournament remains very closely contested as the players enjoyed the first rest day at Mexico City. The favourites Vladimir Kramnik and Vishy Anand may have cause to rue their missed opportunities to establish a full point lead over the field. Kramnik was visibly annoyed with himself after his compatriot Alexander Grischuk engineered a miraculous escape from a grisly position after being nearly ninety minutes behind on the clock at one stage. Grischuk’s prowess at Blitz Chess served him well as managed to exchange into an endgame less a pawn that he saved by a tempo. Kramnik’s favourite Catalan Opening served him well again and he secured a big advantage. The world champion said afterwards he was sure he missed several clear wins just before the time control when he had over 30 minutes on the clock to Grischuk’s two or three minutes. Anand outplayed Alexander Morozevich after the latter produced a good new move in the opening. Anand won a pawn but Morozevich kept creating complications and the battle between these two tactical wizards went in favour of the Russian who escaped with half a point. Levon Aronian got back to 50% at the expense of Peter Leko who made a slip in the Hedgehog that was alertly exploited. As Aronian admitted afterwards he had no advantage from the opening but was just trying to create a little pressure. Vigilance is required in cramped Hedgehog positions as Black often has no active plan. On move 27 Leko left a piece undefended and allowed a strong pawn break. His reaction was to sacrifice a piece unsoundly and this was easily dealt with. Round four Morozevich draw Anand, Slav Meran, 61; Kramnik draw Grischuk, Catalan, 60; Svidler draw Gelfand, Petroff Defence, 24; Aronian 1-0 Leko, English Opening, 45; Scores 1-2 Anand & Kramnik 2.5/4; 3-6 Aronian, Morozevich, Gelfand & Grischuk 2; 7-8 Svidler, Leko 1.5; Aronian,L (2750) - Leko,P (2751) [A33] WCh Mexico City MEX (4), 16.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.a3 Jon Speelman was one of the early proponents of this quiet move which prevents Bb4 and prepares e4 gaining space 6...Be7 [6...d5 7.cxd5 exd5 is not to everyone's taste] 7.e4 0-0 8.Nf3 d6 9.Be2 b6 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Bf4 Taking aim at one of the two weak spots in Black's Hedgehog structure on d6 11...Ne5 12.Nd2 Ng6 13.Bg3 Rc8 [13...d5 14.cxd5 exd5 15.e5] 14.Re1 a6 15.Rc1 Qc7 16.b4 Qb8 17.Bf1 Rfd8 18.Qe2 Nd7 19.Qe3 h6 20.Nf3 Ba8 Black is boxed in but his position is very solid. 21.Red1 Nde5 22.Nd2 Ng4 23.Qe2 N4e5 24.f4 Nd7 25.Nf3 Bf6 26.Qe3 Re8 27.Be1

White tries to do nothing but do it very well. 27...Bd8? Leaving the Nd7 undefended [27...Be7 After the game Leko claimed Be7 and Nf6 was better for Black. I doubt it but it was certainly satisfactory 28.Bg3 (28.e5 Red8=) 28...Nf6 29.h3] 28.e5! dxe5? Black is in a bad way but this makes things a lot easier for white. [28...Bc7 29.Ne4 Bxe4 30.Qxe4 is highly unpleasant for black but at least white has some work to do. ; 28...Be7 29.Ne4 Bxe4 30.Qxe4 is good for White but this piece sacrifice is unsound 30...Red8] 29.Rxd7 exf4 30.Qe2 e5 31.Ne4 Be7 [31...f5 32.Nd6 Bc6 33.Rxd8 Rcxd8 34.Nxe8 Rxe8 35.c5 b5 36.Bc3] 32.c5 bxc5 33.bxc5 Bc6 34.Rdd1 Bb5 35.Qb2 Qa7 36.Bxb5 axb5 37.Bf2 Qa8 38.Nd6 e4 Desperate but if [38...Bxd6 39.cxd6 Rxc1 40.Rxc1 e4 41.Nd4 e3 42.Be1] 39.Nxe8 Rxe8 40.Nd4 Bf6 41.c6 e3 42.Be1 f3 43.gxf3 Nf4 44.Bg3 Ne6 45.Qb4

1-0 Vigilance is required in cramped Hedgehog positions as Black often has no active plan. Kramnik’s favourite Catalan Opening served him well again and he secured a big advantage. The world champion said afterwards he was sure he missed several clear wins just before the time control when he had over 30 minutes on the clock to Grischuk’s two or three minutes. Svidler,P (2735) - Gelfand,B (2733) [C42] WCh Mexico City MEX (4), 16.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 Instead of Be3 and

preventing Nd7-e5 so the knight goes the other way 7...0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Nc5 10.Be3 Re8 11.Bc4 Be6 12.Bxe6 Nxe6 13.h4 Qd7 14.Qd5 [14.Qd3 Qa4 15.Ng5 Nf8 16.Qd5 Bxg5 17.hxg5 Qe4 18.c4 Qxd5 19.cxd5+/= Nd7 20.Rd3 f6 21.Rc3 Rac8 22.Rh4 Re7 23.Rhc4 Nb6 24.Bxb6 axb6 25.gxf6 gxf6 26.a4 Kf8 27.Kd2 Rg7 28.g3 Ke8 29.Rf3 Rg6 30.Rh4 h6 31.Re4+ Kd7 32.Re6 Rf8 33.c4 h5 34.Rf5 Rg4 35.b3 h4 36.gxh4 Rxh4 37.Rfxf6 Rxf6 38.Rxf6 Ke7 39.Re6+ Kf7 40.Re3 Rh1 41.Rf3+ Ke7 42.Ke3 Re1+ 43.Kf4 Kf6 44.Rh3 Re2 45.Rh7 Rxf2+ 46.Ke3 Rb2 47.Rxc7 Rxb3+ 48.Kd4 Rb4 49.Rd7 Rxa4 50.Rxd6+ Ke7 51.Rxb6 Ra7 52.c5 Kd8 53.Ke5 Kc7 54.Rh6 Ra5 55.Rh7+ Kb8 56.Rh8+ Ka7 57.d6 Rxc5+ 58.Ke6 Rc6 59.Ke7 1-0 Svidler,P (2765)Bacrot,E (2717)/Morelia/Linares 2006/CBM 112] 14...Qc6 15.Qf5 Nf8 [15...Qa4 16.Ng5+/=] 16.h5N [16.Nd4 Qc4 17.Kb1 Bf6 18.Qf3 Nd7 19.g4 Bxd4 20.Rxd4 Qc6 21.Qxc6 bxc6 22.g5 c5 23.Rf4 Re5 24.Kc1 Nb6 25.Re1 Rae8 26.Kd1 R8e6 27.Bd2 f6 28.Rg1 Kf7 29.h5 c4 30.g6+ hxg6 31.hxg6+ Kg8 32.Be3 Nd5 33.Rh4 Nxe3+ 34.fxe3 Re4 35.Rgh1 Rxh4 36.Rxh4 d5 37.Rd4 c6 38.Ke2 f5 39.b3 Rxg6 40.bxc4 dxc4 41.Rxc4 Re6 42.Kf3 Kf7 43.Ra4 Re7 44.Rc4 Rc7 45.e4 fxe4+ 46.Kxe4 Kf6 47.Rc5 1/2-1/2 Naiditsch,A (2657)-Bacrot,E (2717)/Montpellier FRA 2006/The Week in Chess 596] 16...Qd7

17.Qd5 [17.Qd3 was suggested afterwards by Svidler just to keep the queens on.] 17...Qe6 18.c4 Qxd5 19.cxd5 White pawn on d5 gives him a small space advantage but Black has no weaknesses and should equalise 19...Nd7 20.Nd4 [20.h6 g6] 20...Nf6 21.Nf5 [21.Nb5 Bd8 22.Bxa7 (22.Nxa7 Rxe3 23.fxe3 Rxa7) 22...b6 is best left to the computers] 21...Bf8 22.Bd4 [22.c4 Ng4=] 22...Nxd5 23.Bxg7 Ne7 24.Nxe7+ Rxe7 Svidler's second Motlylev arrives in the next couple of days, maybe he has something against the Petroff. Gelfand has enjoyed a very comfortable time with black. It will be interesting to see if he can win a game or two with white and mix this event up a but more. 1/2-1/2 Round 5 (September 18, 2007) Anand, Viswanathan - Svidler, Peter 1-0 Grischuk, Alexander - Morozevich, Alexander Gelfand, Boris - Aronian, Levon Leko, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2

39 C89 Ruy Lopez Marshall 1-0 41 D38 QGD Ragozin 1-0 48 E00 Catalan 24 C24 Bishop's Opening

WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752) ----------------------------------------------------------------------

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 ** =. .. =. .. 1. =. 1. 3.5 2898 2 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 =. ** =. .. =. .. 1. =. 3.0 2824 3 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 .. =. ** =. =. =. 1. .. 3.0 2824 4 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 =. .. =. ** =. 1. .. =. 3.0 2822 5 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 .. =. =. =. ** 0. .. =. 2.0 2670 6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 0. .. =. 0. 1. ** =. .. 2.0 2680 7 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 =. 0. 0. .. .. =. ** 1. 2.0 2682 8 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 0. =. .. =. =. .. 0. ** 1.5 2611 ---------------------------------------------------------------------Mark Crowther on Round 5 Round 5 started 10 minutes late as there was a problem with one of the spot lights. Once underway it saw three decisive games and an outright leader. Peter Doggers of chessvibes arrived at the tournament in round 5 and he has all the press conferences (which I used for the notes), the Leko-Kramnik postmortem and a small report at: http://www.chessvibes.com/?lp_lang_pref=en&p=1238 Watch Peter Doggers ChessVibes Introduction to Round 5.

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Anand - Svidler in Round 5. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Peter Svidler talked about trying to find the "Holy Grail, the refutation of the Marshall" as white and it only made sense that he would play it as black. Viswanathan Anand found a strong novelty on move 19 and whilst it fell a long way short of refutation it did drive Svidler into some fatal time pressure whilst the position on the board was still very complicated. Svidler pointed out that his 32...Nf6 was the decisive error and indeed it took only another 7 moves for his position to collapse altogether. With this win Anand moved into the outright lead with 3.5/5. Anand,V (2792) - Svidler,P (2735) [C89] WCh Mexico City MEX (5), 18.09.2007 [Crowther,Mark] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.Re1 Bd6 13.g3 Bf5 14.d4 Qd7 15.Be3 Rae8 16.Nd2 Bg4 17.Qc2 Bf5 18.Qc1 Re7 [18...h5 19.Nf3 Bg4 20.Nh4 Re6 21.Bd1 f5 22.Bxg4 hxg4 23.Bg5 f4 24.Qd2 Rfe8 25.Rxe6 Qxe6 26.gxf4 Qe2 27.f5 Qe4 28.Rf1 Bf4 29.Bxf4 Nxf4 30.f3 gxf3 31.Nxf3 Rf8 32.Qe1 Qxf5 33.Kh1 Qh3 34.Qf2 Nh5 35.Kg1 Rf4 36.Qe3 Qg4+ 37.Kh1 Ng3+ 38.hxg3 Qh3+ 39.Kg1 Qxg3+ 40.Kh1 Rh4+ 41.Nxh4 Qxe3 42.Ng2 Qe2 43.Rf5 Qxb2 44.Rc5 Qxa2 45.Rxc6 a5 0-1 Leko,P (2722)-Anand,V (2766)/Cap D'Agde FRA 2003/The Week in Chess 468] 19.Nf3N [19.Nf1 Rfe8 20.Qd2 Bh3 21.Bc2 Bxf1 22.Rxf1 Nxe3 23.fxe3 Rxe3 24.Bb3 R3e7 25.Rae1 1/21/2 Almasi,Z (2628)-Gyimesi,Z (2595)/Kazincbarcika HUN 2005/The Week in Chess 549] 19...Bg4 20.Nh4 Rfe8 21.Qd2 h6 22.Qd3 g6 23.Bd1 Bh3 24.Bf3 g5 25.Ng2 Bf5 26.Qd1 Nf6 27.a4 Ne4 Svidler said this is quite playable for black but already he was feeling time pressure with around 15-18 minutes left. 28.axb5 axb5 29.Ra6 Qb7 30.Qa1 Bc8 31.Ra8 Bb8 32.Bc1

This is a critical position according to Svidler. 32...Nf6? [32...Qc7; 32...f5] 33.Rxe7 Rxe7 34.Qa3 Wins on the spot according to Svidler and missed by him. 34...Rd7 35.Ra5 Ba7 36.Ne3 Qc7 [36...b4 37.cxb4 Bxd4 38.Nf5] 37.Nf5 c5 38.Nxh6+ Kh7 39.Bxg5 1-0

Grischuk - Morozevich in Round 5. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Alexander Grischuk has had a solid start to the event and in round 5 he moved to a plus score with his first win against Alexander Morozevich. This was another game where time pressure reared its ugly head. After the game Morozevich bemoaned his lack of discipline say that he basically spent one hour for nothing in the opening. The real problems for Morozevich seemed to start with the misjudged 19...h5. Grischuk immediately focused in on the weaknesses on Morozevich's kingside and made him pay. Only time trouble caused any doubts and Morozevich resigned following the first time control. Grischuk,A (2726) - Morozevich,A (2758) [D38] WCh Mexico City MEX (5), 18.09.2007 [Crowther,Mark] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.e3 c5 8.Bd3 Qa5 9.Qc2 c4 10.Bf5 0-0 11.0-0 Re8 12.Nd2 g6 13.Bh3 Kg7 A rare variation in fashion in the 1980s. 14.Rae1

Main line but Morozevich started to think for a long time already. 14...Ne4 15.Ndxe4 dxe4 16.Bf4 f5N [16...Nb6 17.Bxc8 Raxc8 18.f3 Bxc3 19.bxc3 Nd5 20.fxe4 Qxc3 21.Qf2 Nxf4 22.Qxf4 Rf8 23.e5 Kg8 24.h4 h5 25.Qh6 Rce8 26.Rb1 Qd3 27.Rxb7 c3 28.e6 c2 29.exf7+ Rxf7 30.Rbxf7 1-0 Kozlov,V (2400)-Monin,N/Pinsk 1986/EXT 2000] 17.f3 Nf6 18.a3 Bxc3 19.bxc3 h5? [19...Nd5] 20.Qf2!

Getting to the heart of the matter, Grischuk was very pleased with his play around here, quite rightly. 20...Bd7 21.Qg3 Qxc3 22.Be5 Qxa3 Black at least wants to suffer for something. 23.fxe4 Rxe5 24.exf5 After this move Grischuk said he knew he was just winning. 24...Rxf5 25.Bxf5 Bxf5 26.Rxf5 Re8 The rest of the game was played in Grischuk's words "mucho time trouble." Morozevich knew he was lost but he hoped for something but it doesn't appear that he missed any serious chances. 27.Re5 [27.Ref1] 27...Qd6 28.Rxe8 Nxe8 29.Qf3 b5 30.Qb7+ Nc7 31.Qxa7 b4 32.e4 c3 33.e5 Qe7 34.Qb7 Kh6 35.Rf1 c2 36.Rc1 Qg5 37.Rxc2 Qe3+ 38.Rf2 Ne6 39.Qxb4 Qc1+ 40.Rf1 Qe3+ 41.Kh1 1-0

Kramnik looking up at the lighting which caused a delay to the start of Round 5. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Peter Leko and Vladimir Kramnik drew in just 24 moves. If 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 is all that's left for white to try then it really is all over for the king pawn players. Leko confirmed the catastrophic

news in his press conference "In the Russian [Petroff] all the lines are practically by force worked out till the draw." No-one is really talking about just how bad this news is for the game as a whole. Leko,P (2751) - Kramnik,V (2769) [C24] WCh Mexico City MEX (5), 18.09.2007 [Crowther,Mark] 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Basically to avoid the Petroff. Trying to just play. 2...Nf6 3.d3 Bc5 4.Nf3 d6 5.c3 Nc6 6.Bb3 a6 7.0-0 Ba7 8.Re1 0-0 9.h3 h6 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.Nf1 Be6 12.N3h2 Bxb3 13.axb3 Qd7 Prepared in Dortmund for his final game against Alexeev. [13...Re6 14.Ng3 Qd7 15.Qf3 Kh8 16.Nf5 Rg8 17.b4 Bb6 18.Ng4 Nh7 19.Nge3 Bxe3 20.Bxe3 Rf6 21.Qg4 Rg6 22.Qf3 Rf6 23.Qd1 Ne7 24.Ng3 Nc6 25.Qb3 Qe6 26.Qa4 Rg6 27.b5 axb5 28.Qxb5 Rb8 29.d4 exd4 30.cxd4 Ne7 31.Ra7 c6 32.Qa5 Qc8 33.Ra1 Nf6 34.Nf5 Nfg8 35.Bf4 Qd7 36.g4 Re6 37.f3 Nxf5 38.gxf5 Ree8 39.Kh1 Ne7 40.Qd2 Ng8 41.Qh2 Rbd8 42.Rg1 f6 43.Qg3 Qe7 44.Rg2 Rd7 45.Ra1 Qf8 46.Rag1 b6 47.Ra1 Red8 48.Rc2 Ne7 49.Rg2 Ng8 50.Ra6 Rb7 51.Kh2 Qe7 52.Ra1 c5 53.d5 Qc7 54.Ra6 Qd7 55.Ra3 Qc7 56.b3 Qd7 57.Rga2 Ne7 58.Ra8 Nc8 59.Rg2 Qe8 60.Qh4 Qf8 61.Rga2 Kh7 62.Qg3 Kh8 63.Ra1 Qe7 64.R8a2 Qf8 65.Rg2 Rf7 66.Rag1 Qe7 67.Qh4 Rdf8 68.Rg6 b5 69.Qg3 c4 70.bxc4 bxc4 71.Bxh6 1-0 Ye Jiangchuan (2510)-Pinter,J (2595)/Elista RUS 1998] 14.Qf3 Qe6 15.Ng3 Ne7 16.b4 c6 17.Ng4 Nxg4 18.hxg4 d5

"Maybe this is a kind of refutation of white's setup. Black isn't even slightly worse" according to Kramnik. It was just correct preparation. "Already for the second time with black I don't have a problem" - Kramnik. 19.Nf5 Rad8 20.g3 f6 21.Kg2 dxe4 22.dxe4 Nxf5 23.gxf5 Qc4 24.Be3 [24.Bxh6 is nothing.] 24...Bxe3 Already too many pieces have been exchanged. 1/2-1/2

Boris Gelfand moves to a plus score. Photo © Fred Lucas http://www.fredlucas.eu Boris Gelfand is demonstrating precisely why the Petroff is such a good choice for black. Three absolutely comfortable draws with black is gold dust in an event like this. Today he had a chance with white and he of course plays 1.d4 which means at least he has a chance to play for a win. Today as a whole was an object lesson on the value of a good novelty, even if the effect is only on the time of the opponent. A move 6! novelty from Gelfand put Aronian under pressure from the start and although Aronian's position wasn't objective bad it was difficult. He played the dynamic 25...g4!? but never came close to making it work blundering his position away in the next few moves. Gelfand only had to survive to the time control to win. Gelfand,B (2733) - Aronian,L (2750) [A60] WCh Mexico City MEX (5), 18.09.2007 [Crowther,Mark] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 b5 6.Nf3N With the idea of 7.e4. Gelfand hoped to get this in at some point during the tournament. "At least as a surprise weapon its very good". He prepared it in April but his seconds worked an awful lot on it only a few days ago. Aronian had to spend a lot of time to meet it. [6.f3 1-0 Alatortsev,V-Bondarevsky,I/Moscow 1946/MCD (41); 6.Bg2 1/2-1/2 Ragozin,V-Botvinnik,M/Sverdlovsk 1943 (51); 6.Nd2 1/2-1/2 Kramnik,V (2772)Aronian,L (2759)/Yerevan ARM 2007/The Week in Chess 652 (47)] 6...d6 7.e4 a6 8.a4

8... b4 "Looks ugly" - Aronian. [8...Nxe4 was the principled continuation according to Aronian but he was worried about what Gelfand had prepared.] 9.Bd3 g6 10.Nbd2 Bg7 11.Nc4 0-0 12.Bf4 Ne8 13.a5 Aronian wasn't convinced by this: "Maybe Boris could play something else." Aronian felt he got a normal position after this with dynamic play. 13...Bh3 14.Ng5 Bd7 15.0-0 Bb5 16.Qd2 h6 17.Nf3 g5 18.Be3 Bxc4 19.Bxc4 Qf6 20.Qd1 Nd7 21.Rb1 Qe7 22.Nd2 Nef6 23.Re1 Rfe8 24.f3 Qd8 25.Ra1 g4 A sharp idea but it need to be followed up with "concrete play" and according to Gelfand already a few moves later he was a pawn up with no compensation for black. 26.fxg4 Ne5 27.Be2

27...Qd7 [27...Qc8 "with the idea of this c4 thing" Aronian.] 28.g5 Nfg4 29.Bf4 hxg5 30.Bxg5 f5 [30...c4 was Aronian's intention but he then realised it didn't work.] 31.Rf1 Rf8 32.exf5 Rxf5 33.Bf4 Nf6 34.g4 Rxf4 35.Rxf4 Nf7 Black is completely winning. He only needs to make time control. 36.Nc4 Re8 37.Qd3 Qe7 38.Bf3 Ne5 39.Nxe5 Qxe5 40.Rf5 Qxb2 41.Rf1 b3 42.Kh1 Nd7 43.Bd1 [43.Qxa6 wins trivially too] 43...c4 44.Qxc4 Nc5 45.Qf4 Ne4 46.Rf7 Bf6 47.Rb7 Qd2 48.Qxd2 1-0

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Round 5 September 18th 2007

Anand - Svidler in Round 5. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Round 5 (September 18, 2007) Anand, Viswanathan - Svidler, Peter 1-0 Grischuk, Alexander - Morozevich, Alexander Gelfand, Boris - Aronian, Levon Leko, Peter - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2

39 C89 Ruy Lopez Marshall 1-0 41 D38 QGD Ragozin 1-0 48 E00 Catalan 24 C24 Bishop's Opening

WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752) ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 ** =. .. =. .. 1. =. 1. 3.5 2898 2 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 =. ** =. .. =. .. 1. =. 3.0 2824 3 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 .. =. ** =. =. =. 1. .. 3.0 2824 4 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 =. .. =. ** =. 1. .. =. 3.0 2822 5 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 .. =. =. =. ** 0. .. =. 2.0 2670 6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 0. .. =. 0. 1. ** =. .. 2.0 2680 7 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 =. 0. 0. .. .. =. ** 1. 2.0 2682 8 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 0. =. .. =. =. .. 0. ** 1.5 2611

---------------------------------------------------------------------Malcolm Pein Notes Rounds 4-10 in PGN Vishy Anand took the lead of the 1.3 million dollar Fide World Championship tournament at Mexico City with victory over Peter Svidler in a fifth round that saw three decisive games. Anand has 3.5/5, half a point ahead. The eight players are now divided into two groups; those on positive scores and those below 50%. Some of Svidler’s previous reverses have been attributed to his passion for watching too many England cricket matches during tournaments but this defeat was down to some superior opening preparation from Anand and I doubt that even Svidler would have been watching the defeat to New Zealand in the 20-20 World Cup as it started well after bedtime in Mexico. At the very top level much of the battle is about proving an advantage in the opening. Thus far the symmetrical Petroff Defence 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 has proved too tough to beat, a reality that was best illustrated by Peter Leko’s choice of 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 against Vladimir Kramnik which got him absolutely nowhere. Boris Gelfand is playing a fine tournament and after three solid draws with black he defeated Levon Aronian in his second game with white to move to 3/5. Aronian chose a sharp line of the Benoni and Gelfand secured a pleasant edge after which he just played quietly and exploited some unsound sacrifices. Round five of 14. Grischuk 1-0 Morozevich, Queen’s Gambit Ragozin, ; Leko Kramnik; Anand Svidler Gelfand - Aronian; Scores 1 Anand 3.5/5 2-4 Kramnik, Gelfand & Grischuk 3; 5-7 Aronian, Morozevich, Leko 2; 78 Svidler 1.5; Anand’s success was in securing a tangible advantage against the Marshall Attack, a pawn sacrifice which Garry Kasparov never took on and preferred to avoid. With white Svidler was unable to defeat Peter Leko’s Marshall in round three despite emerging with a clear extra pawn but playing black against Anand he failed to create the necessary counterplay and the world number one expertly exploited the weaknesses in his position see below. Anand,V (2792) - Svidler,P (2735) [C89] WCh Mexico City MEX (5), 18.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.Re1 Bd6 13.g3 Bf5 [13...Qd7 14.d4 Qh3 15.Qe2!? Svidler - Leko] 14.d4 Qd7 15.Be3 Rae8 16.Nd2 Bg4 17.Qc2 Bf5 When I was a kid we played h5 immediately 18.Qc1 Re7 [18...h5 19.Nf3 Bg4 20.Nh4 Re6 Leko-Anand 2003 was playable for Black] 19.Nf3 Bg4 20.Nh4 Rfe8 21.Qd2 h6 22.Qd3 Black's position looks nice but he lacks an active plan 22...g6 23.Bd1 Bh3 24.Bf3 g5 [24...Nxe3 25.Rxe3 Rxe3 26.fxe3 c5 27.Ng2] 25.Ng2 Bf5 26.Qd1 Nf6 27.a4 Ne4 28.axb5 axb5 29.Ra6 Qb7 30.Qa1 Bc8 31.Ra8 Bb8 32.Bc1! preparing an exchange of rooks 32...Nf6 33.Rxe7 Rxe7 34.Qa3 Rd7 35.Ra5 Ba7 [35...Bd6 36.Qa1 Re7 37.Ne3] 36.Ne3 Qc7 37.Nf5 c5 [37...Kh7 38.Qf8] 38.Nxh6+ Kh7 39.Bxg5

1-0 Grischuk,A (2726) - Morozevich,A (2758) [D38] WCh Mexico City MEX (5), 18.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.e3 c5 8.Bd3 Qa5 9.Qc2 c4 Unbalancing the game. White will now try and advance in the centre while Black has the edge on the queenside 10.Bf5 0-0 11.0-0 Re8 12.Nd2 g6 13.Bh3 Kg7 14.Rae1 Ne4 [14...b5 15.f3!] 15.Ndxe4 dxe4 16.Bf4 f5 17.f3 Nf6 18.a3 Bxc3 19.bxc3 h5? Black's ambition is to keep the bishop on h3 out of play but this is too optimistic [19...Nd5 20.Be5+ Rxe5 21.dxe5 Qxc3 22.Qf2 would be a better version of the game but still better for White; 19...Bd7 20.Be5 Bc6 21.g4!? Rxe5 22.dxe5 Qxe5 23.f4 Qe6 24.gxf5 gxf5 Was a more solid choice] 20.Qf2!!

have the queenside ! 20...Bd7 21.Qg3 Qxc3 22.Be5 Qxa3 23.fxe4 Rxe5 Black had pinned his hopes on this move but there is a refutation 24.exf5! Rxf5 25.Bxf5 Bxf5 26.Rxf5 Re8 27.Re5 Qd6 28.Rxe8 Nxe8 29.Qf3 [29.Qxd6 Nxd6 30.e4 b5 is not so easy for White as the Black pawns are far away from the white king] 29...b5 30.Qb7+ Nc7 31.Qxa7 b4 32.e4 c3 33.e5 Qe7 34.Qb7! Kh6 [34...c2 35.Rc1] 35.Rf1 c2 36.Rc1 Qg5 37.Rxc2 Qe3+ 38.Rf2 Ne6 [38...Qxd4 39.Qxc7] 39.Qxb4 Qc1+ 40.Rf1 Qe3+ 41.Kh1 1-0 Round 6 (September 19, 2007)

Gelfand, Boris - Morozevich, Alexander 1-0 50 E17 Queens Indian Grischuk, Alexander - Svidler, Peter 1/2 41 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit Leko, Peter - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 21 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence Aronian, Levon - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 22 E06 Catalan WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752) ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 ** =. =. .. =. 1. 1. =. 4.0 2874 2 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 =. ** .. =. =. 1. =. 1. 4.0 2877 3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 =. .. ** =. =. =. =. 1. 3.5 2809 4 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 .. =. =. ** =. =. =. 1. 3.5 2806 5 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 =. =. =. =. ** 0. =. .. 2.5 2693 6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 0. 0. =. =. 1. ** .. =. 2.5 2697 7 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 0. =. =. =. =. .. ** 0. 2.0 2629 8 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 =. 0. 0. 0. .. =. 1. ** 2.0 2625 ---------------------------------------------------------------------Mark Crowther on Round 6 Round 6 saw two interesting games and two rather dull ones and by the end a new joint leader. Sadly at the time of writing neither the excellent http://www.chessvibes.com nor http://www.chessclub.com/chessfm/ had clips up of the round 6 press conferences. No doubt they'll be available by the time you read this (actually the Anand conference is up at: http://www.europe-echecs.com along with their nice brief daily report).

Gelfand beat Morozevich in Round 6 to join Anand in the lead. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Boris Gelfand is the oldest player in the field (by a year from Viswanathan Anand) and also the bottom rated. However he is the consumate professional and has clearly arrived exceptionally well prepared. He faced the big wild card in the event Alexander Morozevich who can be

brilliant one day and not so good the next. Gelfand chose a very sharp setup against Morozevich's Queen's Indian but it was Morozevich's decision to sacrifice the exchange on move 19. that probably cost him the game. Gelfand said afterwards that he thought it a reasonable decision but Morozevich didn't come very close to getting it to work and once Gelfand liquidated into an ending on move 28 he was always strong favourite to win which he did on move 50. Gelfand,B (2733) - Morozevich,A (2758) [E17] WCh Mexico City MEX (6), 19.09.2007 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2 f5 8.d5 Bf6 9.Qc2 Qe7 10.Nxe4 [10.Rd1 exd5 11.cxd5 c5 12.dxc6 dxc6 13.Nxe4 fxe4 14.Nh4 Bxh4 15.gxh4 0-0 16.Qc4+ Qf7 17.Qxf7+ Rxf7 18.Bxe4 c5 19.Bxb7 Rxb7 20.Bc3 Nc6 21.Rg1 Re8 22.Rg5 Re4 23.h5 Rbe7 24.e3 Nd4 25.Kf1 h6 26.Rd5 Nb5 27.Be1 Rf7 28.Rd8+ Kh7 29.R1d7 Rf5 30.Rd5 Rf6 31.Rb8 Rd6 32.Rf5 Rf6 33.Rxf6 gxf6 34.Rd8 c4 35.a4 c3 36.axb5 cxb2 37.Rd1 Rc4 38.Bd2 Rc5 39.Rb1 Rxb5 40.Bc3 Rc5 41.Bxb2 Rb5 42.Ke2 a5 43.Kd3 a4 44.Kc2 Rc5+ 45.Bc3 b5 46.Kd3 Rxh5 47.Bxf6 1-0 Khalifman,A (2650)-Korchnoi,V (2635)/St Petersburg RUS 1997] 10...fxe4 11.Qxe4 Bxb2 12.Rd1 [12.Rb1 Bf6 13.Nd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 e5 15.Qg4 d6 16.c5 0-0 17.c6 Bc8 18.Qa4 a5 19.0-0 Na6 20.Qa3 e4 21.Qe3 Bf5 22.Bc3 Rae8 23.Rbd1 Qf7 24.Qd4 Nc5 25.Qc4 Qh5 26.Bd4 Bh3 27.f4 exf3 28.exf3 Bxg2 29.Kxg2 Re7 30.Rd2 Rfe8 31.Rff2 Qg5 32.Bc3 h6 33.Qd4 Qg6 34.h4 Re3 35.h5 Qg5 36.Rd1 Ne4 0-1 Kortschnoj,V (2635)-Rozentalis,E (2650)/Beersheba 1997] 12...Bf6 13.0-0 Na6 14.Nd4 Nc5 15.Qe3 [15.Qg4 0-0 16.Bb4 Bxd4 17.Qxd4 e5 18.Qc3 a5 19.d6 axb4 20.dxe7 bxc3 21.exf8Q+ Kxf8 22.Bxb7 Nxb7 23.Rxd7 Rxa2 24.Rc1 Nc5 25.Rxc7 c2 26.Rxc5 bxc5 27.Kf1 Ke7 28.Ke1 Ke6 29.Kd2 Kf5 30.f3 e4 31.Rxc2 Ra3 32.Rc3 Ra4 33.Ke3 exf3 34.Kxf3 h5 35.h3 Rb4 36.Ke3 Ke5 37.Kd3 Rb1 38.Ke3 Rb4 39.h4 Kf5 40.Kf3 g6 41.Kf2 Kg4 42.Rf3 g5 43.hxg5 Kxg5 44.Rf4 Ra4 45.e3 Ra1 46.Kf3 Rc1 47.Re4 Kf5 48.Rh4 Kg5 49.Rf4 Rg1 50.e4 Ra1 51.Ke3 Re1+ 52.Kf2 Rc1 53.Rf5+ Kg4 54.Rxc5 Rc2+ 55.Ke3 Rc3+ 56.Kd4 Rxg3 57.Rc8 h4 58.c5 h3 59.c6 h2 60.Rh8 Rh3 61.Rxh3 Kxh3 62.c7 h1Q 63.c8Q+ Kg3 64.Qc7+ Kf3 65.Qf7+ Kg4 66.Qf5+ Kg3 67.e5 Qa1+ 68.Kd5 Qa8+ 69.Kd6 Qb8+ 70.Ke7 Qc7+ 71.Kf8 Qc5+ 72.Kf7 Qd5+ 73.Kg7 Qc5 74.Kg6 Qc7 75.e6 Qc6 76.Qf6 Kg4 77.e7 Qe8+ 78.Kg7 Qc8 79.Qg6+ 1-0 Burmakin,V (2581)-Hernandez Carmenates,H (2544)/Albacete ESP 2007/The Week in Chess 670] 15...exd5 16.cxd5 Qxe3 17.Bxe3 0-0-0 18.Rb1 Rhe8 19.Nb5 Rxe3?! Both players agreed seemed like a reasonable idea at the time but black doesn't make it work in the long term. 20.fxe3 a6 21.Nd4 Re8 22.Nf5 d6 23.Rb4 h5 24.g4 a5 25.Rbf4 Rh8 26.gxh5 Rxh5 27.Rg4 Rh7

28.Nxg7! A complex liquidation which leads to an ending where white has all the chances. 28...Rxg7 29.Bh3! Rxg4+ 30.Bxg4+ Kd8 31.Rxf6 Bxd5 32.a3 Gelfand would no doubt have been happy to be in a technical ending and he slowly makes his advantage count. 32...b5 33.h4 b4 34.axb4 axb4 35.Rf4 White can't allow the b-pawn to become too powerful. 35...b3 36.Bf5 Bf7 37.Kf2 Ke7 38.Ke1 Kf6 39.Bd3+ Kg7 40.Kd2 Be6 41.Kc3 Bf7 42.Bc4 Eliminating the bpawn brings white extremely close to the win. 42...Bxc4 [42...d5 43.Bxb3 d4+ 44.exd4 Nxb3 45.Rxf7+ Kxf7 46.Kxb3 is a fun line.] 43.Rxc4 Kg6 44.e4 Ne6 45.Kxb3 Kh5 46.e5 d5 [46...dxe5 47.e3 c5 48.Re4 Nf8 49.Kc4 Nd7 50.Kd5 Nf6+ 51.Kxe5 Nxe4 52.Kxe4 Kxh4 53.Kd5 wins also.] 47.Rb4 [47.Rc6 Nd4+ Those knights can be tricky but Gelfand has plenty of time on the clock.] 47...Kg6 48.Rb8 Nd4+ 49.Kb2 Nf5 [49...Nxe2 50.h5+ Kf5 51.h6 Nf4 52.h7 Ng6 53.Rg8] 50.Rf8 Cutting the black king off from the passed e-pawn. 1-0

Svidler as black against Grischuk in Round 6. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europeechecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Peter Svidler's pawn grab in the Moscow Variation of the Semi-Slav followed by a second pawn sacrificed on move 16 was risky but forced Alexander Grischuk to put even more material on the fire to break through. Grischuk spent a lot of time sorting out the meaning of Svidler's novelty 16...Qc5 but it seems he found the right ideas. The game entered a time trouble phase and its probable on the run up to the first time control that Grischuk missed a win. He forced a draw on move 41. Grischuk,A (2726) - Svidler,P (2735) [D43] WCh Mexico City MEX (6), 19.09.2007 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 h5 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 15.Bg3 [15.b3 cxb3 16.axb3 0-0 17.Rad1 Nh7 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.g3 Rc8 20.f3 f5 21.exf5 exf5 22.fxg4 Qc7 23.Kh2 fxg4 24.Ne4 Rce8 25.Bd3 Qe7 26.Nc5 Nf6 27.Rde1 Qxe1 28.Rxe1 Rxe1 29.Nxb7 Nd5 30.Qd2 Re3 31.Nd6 Kf6 32.Be4 Rxb3 33.Bxd5 cxd5 34.Qh6+ Ke7 35.Qg7+ Kxd6 36.Qxf8+ Kc6 1-0 Goldin,A (2566)Novikov,I (2591)/New York 2000; 15.Rad1 0-0 16.Bg3 Nd7 17.f3 c5 18.dxc5 Qe7 19.Kh1 a6 20.a4 Bc6 21.Nd5 exd5 22.exd5 Be5 23.f4 Bg7 24.dxc6 Nxc5 25.Rd5 Ne4 26.Be1 Qe6 27.Rxh5 f5 28.Kh2 Rac8 29.Bb4 Rfe8 30.axb5 axb5 31.Re1 Qf7 32.Rg5 Nxg5 33.fxg5 Rxc6 34.Bf1 Rxe1 35.Bxe1 Re6 36.Bc3 Qc7+ 37.g3 Re3 38.Qg2 Bxc3 39.bxc3 f4 40.Qa8+ Kg7 41.Qa6

fxg3+ 0-1 Aronian,L (2750)-Anand,V (2792)/Mexico City MEX 2007] 15...Qxd4 16.Rfd1 [16.Rad1 Qc5 17.e5 Nd5 18.Ne4 Qb6 19.Nd6+ Kf8 20.Kh1 Kg8 21.Qe4 Rf8 22.f3 Ba8 23.fxg4 Qe3 24.Rf3 Qxe4 25.Nxe4 hxg4 26.Ra3 b4 27.Rxa7 Ne3 28.Rdd7 c5 29.Nf6+ Bxf6 30.exf6 c3 31.bxc3 bxc3 32.Bd3 c4 33.Bg6 c2 34.Bxc2 Nxc2 35.Bd6 Bc6 36.Rdc7 Rd8 37.Rxc6 Nd4 38.Rc5 Nf5 39.Be5 Rd1+ 0-1 Wendt,J (2289)-Van Wely,L (2687)/Minneapolis USA 2005/The Week in Chess 550] 16...Qc5N [16...Qb6 17.a4 a5 18.Qd2 b4 19.Qg5 Kf8 20.Be5 Rh6 21.Bd4 Qc7 22.Bc5+ Kg8 23.Bd6 Qc8 24.e5 Nh7 25.Qf4 bxc3 26.bxc3 Nf8 27.Rab1 Ng6 28.Qg5 c5 29.Rb6 Be4 30.Bxc4 Qd8 31.Rb5 Nxh4 32.Qe3 Bxg2 33.Rdb1 Nf5 34.Qxc5 Qh4 35.Rb8+ Rxb8 36.Rxb8+ Kh7 0-1 Witt,R (2287)-Al Sayed,M (2443)/Amsterdam NED 2004/The Week in Chess 507] 17.Bd6 White started to use a lot of time to try and work out the significance of the novelty. 17...Qb6 18.a4 [18.b3 Is the other way to try and break up the queenside.] 18...a6 19.e5 Nd7 20.a5 Qa7 21.Ne4 c5 22.Ng5 Nxe5 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 24.Bxc4!

A necessary decision, white's bishop is totally locked in so giving it up to open up the position is sensible. 24...bxc4 25.Qa4+ Kf8 26.Rd7 Threatening 27.Rxf7+ Kg8 28.Qd7 with the idea of Rg7+ Bxg7 Qf7 mate or just a slow build up. Black's major pieces are out of play. 26...Bd5! 27.Rd1 Bd4 28.Rxa7 [28.b3 Qb8 29.Rxf7+ Kg8 30.bxc4 was possibly stronger.] 28...Rxa7 29.b3! Kg7 30.bxc4 Ba8 31.Qc2 g3 32.Rxd4! Destroying black's strong bishop. 32...cxd4 33.Qe2 gxf2+ 34.Qxf2

34...Rd8?! [34...e5 35.Qg3 f6 36.Ne6+ Kh6 37.Qf2 Rf7 38.Qd2+ Kg6 39.Qd3+ Kh6 40.Qd2+

Kg6=] 35.Qg3! Kf8 36.Qe5 Ke8 [36...d3? 37.Nh7+ Ke8 38.Nf6+ Ke7 39.Qc5+ Kxf6 40.Qg5#] 37.Nxe6? [37.Qh8+ Ke7 38.Qg7 Looks like it was winning.] 37...fxe6 38.Qh8+ Ke7 39.Qg7+ Ke8 40.Qh8+ Ke7 41.Qg7+ The black d-pawn is too powerful for white to play for a win. 1/21/2

Viswanathan Anand being searched with a metal detector (as all the players are) at the start of Round 6. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

Peter Leko in Round 6. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. There isn't much to say about this game. Peter Leko was surprised by Viswanathan Anand's choice of variation, played the rather old 13.Be3, got nothing and Anand decided to take the draw with black. Leko,P (2751) - Anand,V (2792) [C78] WCh Mexico City MEX (6), 19.09.2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.d4 Bb6 10.Na3 0-0 11.axb5 axb5 12.Nxb5 Bg4 13.Be3 exd4 14.cxd4 Nxe4 [14...Qe8 15.Ba4 Nxe4 16.Nc3 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Qe4 18.h3 Bxf3 19.gxf3 Qg6+ 20.Kh2 d5 21.Qd2 Ne7 22.Rg1 Qd6+ 23.Bf4 Qd8 24.Rae1 Ng6 25.Bg3 Qf6 26.f4 c5 27.Bc2 cxd4 28.f5 dxc3 29.Qe2 Rbc8 30.fxg6 fxg6 31.Rgf1 Kh8 32.Qg4 Bc7 33.Bxc7 Rxc7 34.Qg3 Rc4 35.Rd1 d4 36.Qd3 Qf4+ 37.Qg3 Qf6 38.Qd3 Qf4+ 39.Qg3 1/2-1/2 Almasi,Z (2590)-Onischuk,A (2590)/Wijk aan Zee 1995] 15.Qc2 Qe8 16.Ba4 Bd7 17.Rfe1 Nb4 Anand is happy to draw with black. 18.Qc4 Ba5 19.Nc3 Bxa4 20.Rxa4 d5 21.Qf1 Nc6

1/2-1/2

Levon Arionian in Round 6. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

Kramnik in Round 6. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. The World Champion Vladimir Kramnik also equalised quickly as black and took the draw offer when it came from Levon Aronian. Aronian,L (2750) - Kramnik,V (2769) [E06] WCh Mexico City MEX (6), 19.09.2007 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Be4 11.Qc1 Qc8 12.Bg5 Nbd7 13.Nbd2 Bb7 14.Nb3 a5 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 [15...Nxf6 16.Nc5 Bd5 17.Ne5 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 c6 19.Ncd3 Ra6 20.Qe3 Nd5 21.Qf3 f6 22.Ng4 c5 23.dxc5 Nb4 24.Nf4 Qc6 25.a3 Nc2 26.Qxc6 Rxc6 27.Rac1 Nd4 28.b4 Rd8 29.e4 Kf7 30.Nd3 axb4 31.axb4 Rc7 32.f3 Nc6 33.Ngf2 Rd4 34.Rb1 Ra7 35.Rb2 f5 36.exf5 exf5 37.Rfb1 Bf6 38.f4 Ra4 39.Re2 Nxb4 40.Ne5+ Bxe5 41.Rxe5 g6 42.c6 Nxc6 1/2-1/2 Shirov,A (2699)-Onischuk,A (2663)/Foros UKR 2007/The Week in Chess 660] 16.Nc5 Bd5 [16...Nxc5 17.Qxc5 Rd8 18.Rac1 Bxf3 19.Bxf3 Bxd4 20.Qxb5 Qb8 21.Qc4 Ra7 22.b3 Qb4 23.Rfd1 Qxc4 24.bxc4 Rd6 25.Rb1 g6 1/21/2 Pelletier,Y (2591)-Onischuk,A (2650)/Biel SUI 2007/The Week in Chess 664] 17.e4N The first new move. Jon Speelman was commentating on this game on ICCs chess.fm and had no recollection of the game they were following. [17.Rd1 Nxc5 18.Qxc5 Qb7 19.Rac1 Rac8 20.Ne1 Rfd8 21.e3 c6 22.b3 Be7 1/2-1/2 Sigurjonsson,G (2440)-Speelman,J (2520)/Brighton 1981] 17...Bc4 18.Nxd7 Qxd7 19.Re1 Bxd4 20.Rd1 c5 21.Qc2 e5 22.Nxe5

This draw agreement came as no real surprise. 1/2-1/2

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Round 6 (September 19, 2007) Gelfand, Boris - Morozevich, Alexander 1-0 50 E17 Queens Indian Grischuk, Alexander - Svidler, Peter 1/2 41 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit Leko, Peter - Anand, Viswanathan 1/2 21 C78 Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence Aronian, Levon - Kramnik, Vladimir 1/2 22 E06 Catalan WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752) ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 ** =. =. .. =. 1. 1. =. 4.0 2874 2 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 =. ** .. =. =. 1. =. 1. 4.0 2877 3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 =. .. ** =. =. =. =. 1. 3.5 2809 4 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 .. =. =. ** =. =. =. 1. 3.5 2806 5 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 =. =. =. =. ** 0. =. .. 2.5 2693 6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 0. 0. =. =. 1. ** .. =. 2.5 2697 7 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 0. =. =. =. =. .. ** 0. 2.0 2629 8 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 =. 0. 0. 0. .. =. 1. ** 2.0 2625 ---------------------------------------------------------------------Malcolm Pein Notes Rounds 4-10 in PGN The Israeli number one Boris Gelfand has played superbly at the 1.3 million dollar Fide World Championship tournament at Mexico City and he joined world number one Vishy Anand in the lead with a sixth round victory over Alexander Morozevich. Gelfand has been extremely solid with black, scoring three draws with the Petroff Defence and has taken his chances with white when they arose after his opponents sacrificed material. The world champion Vladimir Kramnik continues to be bogged down with draws and is half a point off the pace but declared him self unworried at the post-match press conference following a lifeless game with Levon Aronian. Kramnik could hardly be blamed as he was playing black and Aronian chose to use Kramnik’s favourite weapon, the Catalan, against him. Round six of 14. Aronian draw Kramnik, Catalan, ; Gelfand 1-0 Morozevich, Queen’s Indian, ; Grischuk draw Svidler ; Leko draw Anand; Scores 1-2 Anand, Gelfand 4/6 2-4 Kramnik & Grischuk 3.5; 5-6 Aronian, Leko 2.5; 7-8 Morozevich,Svidler 2; The game of the round was a wild Moscow Gambit in which Alexander Grischuk sacrificed three pawns and a piece and looked like he was going to obliterate Peter Svidler. Svidler was obliged to give up his queen to save his king but the rest of his army came to the rescue. Grischuk,A (2726) - Svidler,P (2735) [D43] WCh Mexico City MEX (6), 19.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 [6.Bxf6 The Moscow Variation secured Kramnik a slight edge against Svidler in round one. Offering the c pawn leads to much sharper play] 6...dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 h5 12.0-0 White has better development for the pawn and has created weaknesses in the black position. The black king has nowhere to hide 12...Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 15.Bg3 [15.Rad1 0-0 16.Bg3 Nd7 17.f3 c5! and Black won in Aronian-Anand round 2] 15...Qxd4 16.Rfd1 Qc5 17.Bd6 Qb6 18.a4 A

second pawn has been sacrificed to prevent castling and the position is very murky 18...a6 19.e5 Nd7 20.a5 Qa7 21.Ne4 Ne4-g5 and takes on e6 or Bc7 and Nd6+ come into view 21...c5 22.Ng5!! Nxe5 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 24.Bxc4! bxc4 25.Qa4+ Kf8 26.Rd7 Threatening 27.Rxf7+ Kg8 28.Qd7 with the idea of Rg7+ Bxg7 Qf7 mate or just a slow build up Black's major pieces are out of play 26...Bd5! The only way to stop Rxf7+ Black's queen is worth less than the rook on d7 27.Rd1! Bd4 Threat g3 28.Rxa7 [28.b3 Qb8 29.Rxf7+ Kg8 30.bxc4 was possibly even stronger] 28...Rxa7 29.b3 Kg7 [29...g3 30.Rxd4 cxd4 31.bxc4] 30.bxc4 Ba8 Black has rook, bishop and pawn for queen but his king is permanently unsafe 31.Qc2 g3 32.Rxd4! cxd4 33.Qe2 gxf2+ 34.Qxf2 Rd8 35.Qg3 Kf8 36.Qe5

36...Ke8 Queen and knight are a fearsome attacking force [winning attempts would be unwise 36...d3 37.Nh7+ Ke8 38.Nf6+ Ke7 39.Qc5+ Kxf6 40.Qg5#; 36...Rad7! keeping everything together would hold 37.Qh8+ Ke7 38.Qg7 d3!! 39.c5 Re8 40.Qxf7+ Kd8 41.Nxe6+ Rxe6 42.Qxe6 d2=] 37.Nxe6 [wrong way round 37.Qh8+ Ke7 38.Qg7 d3 39.Qxf7+ Kd6 40.Qxa7 d2 41.Nf7+ Kc6 42.Qb6+ Kd7 43.Qxd8+ Kc6 44.Qc8#; 37.Qh8+ Ke7 38.Qg7 Rf8 39.Nxe6 Kxe6 40.Qxf8 Rd7 41.Qxa8 d3 42.Qe4+ both win] 37...fxe6 38.Qh8+ Ke7 39.Qg7+ Ke8 40.Qh8+ Ke7 41.Qg7+ 1/2-1/2 The World Chess Championship Tournament takes place in Mexico City 13th-30th September 2007. Official site: http://www.chessmexico.com Round 7 (September 20, 2007) Anand, Viswanathan C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Kramnik, Vladimir D43 Anti-Meran Gambit Svidler, Peter C69 Ruy Lopez Exchange Morozevich, Alexander C45 Scotch Game

Grischuk, Alexander

1-0

50

Gelfand, Boris

1/2

40

Aronian, Levon

1/2

20

Leko, Peter

1/2

60

WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752)

--------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 --------------------------------------------------------------------1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 ** =. =. 1. =. 1. 1. =. 5.0 2904 2 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 =. ** =. =. =. 1. =. 1. 4.5 2856 3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 =. =. ** =. =. =. =. 1. 4.0 2799 4 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 0. =. =. ** =. =. =. 1. 3.5 2755 5 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 =. =. =. =. ** 0. =. =. 3.0 2701 6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 0. 0. =. =. 1. ** =. =. 3.0 2702 7 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 0. =. =. =. =. =. ** 0. 2.5 2652 8 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 =. 0. 0. 0. =. =. 1. ** 2.5 2648 --------------------------------------------------------------------Mark Crowther on Round 7 The tournament reached its half way stage on Thursday 20th September 2007. Already I think its clear that the titlle battle is between the leader Viswanathan Anand, second placed Boris Gelfand and third placed Vladimir Kramnik. The form of the other players simply doesn't suggest they can catch Anand who I expect to score at least 3/7 in the second half and probably more like 4 or 4.5. Anand like Kramnik will have 4 blacks and 3 whites in the second half but so far he has seemed untroubled with black. Boris Gelfand has arrived both in good form and as expected, extremely well prepared. I always thought he was the player most adversely affected by the change from Candidates Matches. Although the oldest in the field he doesn't seem very far away from his best chess. Probably he won't take the title but if he scores another 4.5/9 he might not be that far away and he does have four whites in the second half. There were a nice set of interviews on the http://www.chessvibes.com/?p=1242 site and no doubt http://www.europe-echecs.com and http://www.chessclub.com/chessfm/ will have good stuff by the time you read this.

Anand - Grischuk Round 7. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Viswanathan Anand probably couldn't have been more pleased to play against a closed Ruy Lopez and he played a very nice controlled positional game neatly sidestepping the most dangerous tactical ideas of his opponent. Grischuk was most unhappy with his play afterwards and perhaps most interesting was the disagreement about whether taking the bishop and queen off (23...Bg5 and 26.Qd2) improved white or black's position. Anand felt it took the pressure off him and he certainly seemed to take the point very easily. Grischuk has gradually revealed a very, very dry sense of humour "You can call this position either risky or hopeless." was a nice one as was the comment at the end of the interview with Macauley Peterson about time trouble: http://webcast.chessclub.com/Mexico07/Macauley/day7/day7.html. All entertaining stuff. Anand,V (2792) - Grischuk,A (2726) [C88] WCh Mexico City MEX (7), 20.09.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 [8.h3 1/2-1/2 Grischuk,A (2726)-Leko,P (2751)/Mexico City MEX 2007 (28); 8.c3 1/2-1/2 Svidler,P (2735)Leko,P (2751)/Mexico City MEX 2007 (43)] 8...b4 9.d3 d6 10.Nbd2 Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.c3 Nc6N [12...Rb8 13.Nf1 Qc7 14.Ng3 h6 15.h3 b3 16.Bb1 Re8 17.d4 c4 18.Nf5 Bf8 19.g4 Nh7 20.Kh1 Bd7 21.d5 f6 22.h4 Bc8 23.Rg1 Qf7 24.Ne3 Bd7 25.Nd2 Rec8 26.Qe2 Qe8 27.Ndxc4 Nxc4 28.Nxc4 Bxa4 29.Ne3 Ra8 30.Bd3 Bb5 31.c4 Bd7 32.Bd2 Be7 33.Ra3 Rcb8 34.Rga1 Bc8 35.Nf5 Nf8 36.c5 dxc5 37.Bxa6 Bxf5 38.gxf5 c4 39.Ra4 Bc5 40.Bb5

Rxa4 41.Bxa4 Qf7 42.Qxc4 Qh5 43.Qxc5 Qxh4+ 44.Kg1 Qg4+ 45.Kf1 Qxe4 46.Be1 Qd3+ 47.Kg1 Qxf5 48.Qc3 Ng6 49.Bd2 Nh4 50.Kf1 Qe4 51.Ra3 Nf3 52.Rxb3 Rxb3 53.Bxb3 Nd4 54.d6+ Kh7 55.Bc2 Nxc2 56.f3 Qf5 57.d7 Nd4 58.d8Q Qh3+ 0-1 Saveljev,V (2333)-Shomoev,A (2479)/Krasnoyarsk RUS 2003/The Week in Chess 462] 13.d4 bxc3 14.bxc3 exd4 15.cxd4 Nb4 "I think the knight hasn't moved after Nb4 so It turned out to be not a very good decision." 16.Bb1 Bg4!? Anand wasn't sure about this but felt he should be better but the "tactics are quite annoying". Grischuk "I think I played the opening terribly." and already didn't like his position when he played this. "You can call this position either risky or hopeless." [16...cxd4 Grischuk didn't like this move.] 17.h3 Bh5 18.g4 Bg6 White has to play this way according to Anand. 19.d5 Nd7 20.Nc4 Rb8 21.Bf4 Nb6 22.Nxb6 Rxb6 23.Nd2

23...Bg5 "I was happy when the bishops came off" - Anand. Grischuk thought this move should be good enough for a draw. He was happy to take the game into an ending with the Bishop and Queen off. 24.Bxg5 Qxg5 25.Nc4 Rbb8 26.Qd2! Anand liked this move. He didn't know if it was possible to win the game if Black waits passively which of course is quite unpleasant. 26...Qxd2 27.Nxd2 f6 28.Nc4 Rfd8 29.f4 Bf7 30.Ra3

30...g5 "I suspect in the end its a bit of a mistake" Anand. "Another terrible move." Grischuk. He didn't see any chances for him after this point. 31.h4 gxf4 32.Rf3 Be8 33.Rxf4 Kg7 34.h5 Bxa4 35.h6+ Kxh6 36.Rxf6+ Kg7 37.g5? "I suspect in the end this might be a mistake." - Anand. 37...Rf8 38.Rxd6 "Once I take his d6 pawn I think I'm pressing heavily". - Anand. 38...Bc2 39.Ne5 Rf4 40.Rf6 Rh4 41.d6 Bxb1 42.Rxb1 Rxe4 43.Rf7+ Kg8 44.Re7 Rd8 45.Rd1 c4 46.d7 Rf4 47.Rf1 Rff8 48.Rxf8+ Kxf8 49.Rxh7 c3 50.Ng6+ 1-0

Kramnik - Gelfand Round 7. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Gelfand - "I thinks its an extremely exciting game". "For a long time I didn't have such an interesting game." "I'm very glad I took

part". Kramnik "I agree the game was quite interesting. I had the feeling maybe I was better." Kramnik - Gelfand was probably the most complicated game of the day, I'm certainly not capable of doing justice to this extremely sharp and difficult game. Interesting was Kramnik's observation that he forgot that black could castle on move 33! Kramnik,V (2769) - Gelfand,B (2733) [D43] WCh Mexico City MEX (7), 20.09.2007 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 [6.Bxf6 1/2-1/2 Kramnik,V (2769)-Svidler,P (2735)/Mexico City MEX 2007 (23)] 6...dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 [9.Ne5 0-1 Aronian,L (2750)-Anand,V (2792)/Mexico City MEX 2007 (41)] 9...Bb7 10.00 Nbd7 11.Ne5 h5 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 13.Qc1N [13.Be5 Rh6 1/21/2 Korobov,A (2530)-Zubov,A (2552)/Odessa UKR 2007/The Week in Chess 670 (49)] 13...Rg8 14.Rd1 Bb4 15.Qe3 Qe7 16.h3 h4 17.Bh2 Bxc3 18.bxc3 g4 19.Kh1 Kramnik spent a long time on this move as he had to calculate a lot of variations as this is quite commital. Taking on g4 was probably OK for white but not more. 19...c5 20.hxg4 cxd4 21.Rxd4 [21.Qxd4 Nxe4 22.Bf3 Ng3+ complicated but I think I am holding.] 21...e5 22.Rdd1 Nxg4 23.Bxg4 Rxg4 24.f3 Rg6 25.a4 a5 26.axb5 a4 27.Qe2 Qc5 28.Rab1 Rd6 29.Rxd6 Qxd6 30.Qxc4 a3 31.Ra1 h3 32.Qe2 hxg2+ 33.Qxg2

33...0-0-0 Kramnik completely forgot about the possibility of castling. He thought he had an attack but once this came in he decided it was time to head for a draw. In fact Kramnik thought Gelfand might have been more ambitious but noted his lack of time. 34.Qa2 f5 35.Qxa3 fxe4 36.Qxd6 Rxd6 37.fxe4 Bxe4+ 38.Kg1 Bd3 39.Bxe5 Rg6+ 40.Kf2 Bxb5 1/2-1/2

Kramnik's scoresheet in Round 7. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day.

Morozevich - Leko Round 7. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Morozevich and Leko had a very complex struggle in the Scotch where both players got into time trouble twice, running up to move 40 and up to move 60. Peter Leko seemed to have the better of it but he never came really close to landing the killer blow. Morozevich,A (2758) - Leko,P (2751) [C45]

WCh Mexico City MEX (7), 20.09.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bc4 Ne5 [7...0-0 8.0-0 Ne5 9.Bb3 d6 10.f3 Be6 11.Kh1 Bc4 12.Rf2 d5 13.Bc2 dxe4 14.Nd2 Bd3 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.fxe4 Qg6 17.Rf4 Nc4 18.Bg1 Qh6 19.Rf3 Qd2 20.Qb1 Bb6 21.Bb3 Bxd4 22.cxd4 Na5 23.Bc2 Rad8 24.Rc3 Nac6 25.d5 Nb4 26.Bb3 Na6 27.Be3 Qe2 28.Bc4 Qg4 29.h3 Qh4 30.Bxa6 bxa6 31.Rxc7 f5 32.Bc5 Rfe8 33.d6 Ng6 34.exf5 Nf4 35.Qc2 Re2 36.Qb3+ Kh8 37.Rg1 1-0 Morozevich,A (2758)-Svidler,P (2735)/Mexico City MEX 2007] 8.Bb3 Qg6 9.0-0 d5 [9...Qxe4 10.Re1 (10.Nd2 Qg4 11.Nb5 Bxe3 12.fxe3 Qxd1 13.Raxd1 Kd8 14.Bxf7 d6 15.h3 Nf5 16.e4 Ne3 17.Bb3 a6 18.Nd4 Nxd1 19.Rxd1 Ke7 20.N2f3 Nxf3+ 21.Nxf3 Be6 22.e5 dxe5 23.Nxe5 Bxb3 24.axb3 Rhd8 25.Re1 Kf8 26.Re2 Rd1+ 27.Kh2 Re8 28.Rf2+ Kg8 29.Nf3 h6 30.b4 Rd3 31.Kg1 Rd1+ 32.Kh2 Re7 33.Rc2 Kh7 34.Kg3 b6 35.Nd4 Rd7 36.Nb3 R1d5 37.Re2 c5 38.bxc5 bxc5 39.Kf2 Kg8 40.Ke1 Kf7 41.Kf2 Re7 42.Rc2 Rf5+ 43.Kg1 Rfe5 44.Rd2 Re2 45.Rxe2 Rxe2 46.Nxc5 Rxb2 47.Nxa6 Rc2 48.Nc5 Rxc3 49.Ne4 Re3 50.Nd2 Kf6 51.Kf2 Ra3 52.Nf3 Kf5 53.Nd4+ Ke4 54.Ne6 g5 55.Ng7 Ke5 56.Nh5 Ke6 57.g3 Ke5 58.Kg2 Ke4 59.g4 Ke3 60.Ng7 Ra7 61.Nh5 Rf7 62.Kg3 Ke2 63.Kg2 Rf2+ 64.Kg3 Kf1 65.Ng7 Kg1 66.Nf5 Ra2 67.Kf3 Ra3+ 68.Ke4 Rxh3 69.Nxh6 Rxh6 70.Kf5 Kg2 71.Kxg5 Ra6 72.Kh5 Kg3 0-1 Meitner,P-Rosenthal,S/Vienna 1873) 10...Qh4 11.Nf3 Nxf3+ 12.Qxf3 Bd6 13.Qxf7+ Kd8 14.g3 Qg4 15.f3 Qf5 16.Qxg7 Be5 17.Qg5 Bf6 18.Qxf5 Nxf5 19.Bf4 d6 20.Nd2 h6 21.Ne4 Bg7 22.Rad1 Bd7 23.Kf2 Rf8 24.Nc5 dxc5 25.Be6 Nd4 26.Bxd7 Kxd7 27.cxd4 cxd4 28.Be3 Rae8 29.Bxd4 Rxe1 30.Kxe1 Bxd4 31.Rxd4+ Ke6 32.Ke2 c5 33.Re4+ Kd6 34.f4 b5 35.Re5 Rf6 36.b3 Kc6 37.Kd3 a5 38.Ke4 Rd6 39.f5 Rd2 40.Re6+ Kd7 41.Rxh6 Rxa2 42.Rb6 b4 43.Kd5 Rb2 44.Kxc5 Rxb3 45.g4 Rh3 46.Ra6 Rxh2 47.Rxa5 b3 48.Kd5 b2 49.Rb5 Rg2 50.Ke5 Kc6 51.Rb8 Rc2 52.Kf6 Kc7 53.Rb3 Rc6+ 1/2-1/2 Mamantov,M-Srumin,G (2125)/Tel Aviv ISR 1999] 10.Bf4 Bg4N 11.Qc2 f6 12.Ba4+ Very precise and very strong move. 12...c6 13.Nd2 0-0 14.f3 Bd7 15.Kh1 Bb6 16.Rae1 Rae8 17.Re2 Kh8 18.Bg3 Qh5 19.Qd1 Bc7 20.Rfe1 Bb8 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Nf1 Nb6 23.Bc2 c5 Morozevich felt that Leko had equalised by this point and that over the next few moves Leko then proceeded to outplay him. 24.Re4 Qf7 25.Nb3 Bf5 26.R4e2 Rd8 27.Rd2 Bxc2 28.Qxc2 Rxd2 29.Nfxd2 c4 30.Nd4 Nbd7 31.Re2 a6 32.Ne4 b5 33.b4 Qd5 34.Nf2 Nb6 35.Re4 Qd7 36.Bxe5 Bxe5 37.Ng4 Bb8 38.Ne3

38...Re8?! [38...g6 followed by f5 was probably better, at least according to Morozevich. But Leko was in time trouble and happy to reduce some perceived attacking chances.] 39.g3 g6 40.Kg2 f5 41.Rxe8+ Qxe8 42.Qd2 Be5 43.Ne2 Kg7 44.Kf2 Qe7 45.f4 Bf6 46.g4 fxg4 47.Nxg4 Qd8 48.Qe3 Nd5 49.Qa7+ Qe7 50.Qxa6 Qd7 51.Nxf6 Nxf6 With reduced material Morozevich felt he was over the worst and that Leko didn't perhaps make the best of his chances. 52.Qa8 Qh3 53.Ke1 Qd3 54.Qa7+ Kh6 55.Qd4 Qb1+ 56.Kf2 Ng4+ 57.Kg3 Qxa2 58.h3 Qxe2 59.hxg4 Qe1+ 60.Kf3 Qh1+ 1/2-1/2

Svidler - Aronian Round 7. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Svidler. "This is my first exchange Spanish" - "Its considered to be

more harmless than it actually is." Peter Svidler decided to catch Levon Aronian out with an Exchange Ruy Lopez but once he blundered and allowed equalisation his enthusiasm for the position didn't last very long. Aronian thought he was solid throughout, we didn't find out the truth of the matter today. Svidler,P (2735) - Aronian,L (2750) [C69] WCh Mexico City MEX (7), 20.09.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 f6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 c5 8.Ne2 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bd7 10.Nbc3 0-0-0 11.Be3 Re8 12.Rd2 Bc6 13.Rad1 b6 14.f3 Bd6 15.Bf4 Bxf4 16.Nxf4 Svidler felt that after the exchange of these bishops white should get a lot. 16...Nh6

Svidler felt that this position should be "better forever" for white. 17.Kf2? [17.Nh5 Followed by g4. 17...Re7 18.Nd5 Rf7 19.g4 g6 20.Nhf4 Re8 21.Kg2 Ng8 22.h4 Ne7 23.Kg3 Kb7 24.Nxe7 Rfxe7 25.Rd8 c4 26.Rxe8 Rxe8 27.Nd5 Rd8 28.Ne3 Rxd1 29.Nxd1 g5 30.Ne3 b5 31.Nf5 c3 32.bxc3 Be8 33.Nh6 Bd7 34.hxg5 fxg5 35.Nf7 Kb6 36.Nxg5 h6 37.Nf7 Be6 38.Nxh6 Bxa2 39.Kf2 a5 40.Ke3 a4 41.Kd2 a3 42.Nf5 c5 43.Ne3 b4 44.c4 1-0 Rause,O (2565)-Cutillas Ripoll,P (2465)/ICCF corr 1994; or 17.g4 Controlling f5.] 17...f5= [17...Nf7 18.Ncd5 followed by Ne3 was the position Svidler envisioned.] 18.exf5 [18.Nfd5 fxe4 19.Nxe4 Ng4+ white doesn't have equality anymore.] 18...Nxf5 19.Re1 Rxe1 20.Kxe1 g5 A slight inaccuracy according to Svidler but he was so disgusted with his play he decided to "call it quits for the day." Aronian thought that he could achieve anything more than a draw. Nd3 or Nfd5 are the possibilities. 1/2-1/2

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Round 7 September 20th 2007 by IM Malcolm Pein

Anand - Grischuk Round 7. Photo © Gerard Demuydt http://www.europe-echecs.com who have videos, photos and analysis each day. Round 7 (September 20, 2007) Anand, Viswanathan - Grischuk, Alexander 1-0 50 C88 Ruy Lopez Closed Kramnik, Vladimir - Gelfand, Boris 1/2 40 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit Svidler, Peter - Aronian, Levon 1/2 20 C69 Ruy Lopez Exchange Morozevich, Alexander - Leko, Peter 1/2 60 C45 Scotch Game WCh Mexico City MEX (MEX), 13-29 ix 2007 cat. XXI (2752) ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ---------------------------------------------------------------------1 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 ** =. =. 1. =. 1. 1. =. 5.0 2904 2 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2733 =. ** =. =. =. 1. =. 1. 4.5 2856 3 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2769 =. =. ** =. =. =. =. 1. 4.0 2799 4 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2726 0. =. =. ** =. =. =. 1. 3.5 2755 5 Leko, Peter g HUN 2751 =. =. =. =. ** 0. =. =. 3.0 2701 6 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2750 0. 0. =. =. 1. ** =. =. 3.0 2702 7 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2735 0. =. =. =. =. =. ** 0. 2.5 2652 8 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2758 =. 0. 0. 0. =. =. 1. ** 2.5 2648 ---------------------------------------------------------------------Malcolm Pein Notes Rounds 4-10 in PGN The world number one Vishy Anand enjoys a full point lead over Vladimir Kramnik at the halfway stage of the 1.3 million dollar Fide World Championship tournament at Mexico City. Kramnik could not overcome the Israeli number one Boris Gelfand who remains undefeated and is in second place half a point behind Anand. Anand moved clear of the field with a well crafted victory over Alexander Grischuk whose legendary impatience cost him dear when he lashed out in an uncomfortable position playing black in the Ruy Lopez.

The other two games were drawn after advantages came and went. Peter Svidler stood well against Levon Aronian but his bad form persists and after an injudicious king move his superiority evaporated and he will hope for better luck in the second half of the event. Alexander Morozevich employed the same line of the Scotch that brought him victory against Peter Svidler but was easily held at bay by Peter Leko who was slightly better for much of the game. Round seven. Kramnik draw Gelfand, Slav Defence Moscow Gambit, 40; Svidler draw Aronian, Ruy Lopex Exchange, 20; Morozevich draw Leko, Scotch Game, 60; Anand 1-0 Grischuk Ruy Lopez Anti Marshall 8.a4 b4; Scores 1 Anand 5/7; 2 Gelfand 4.5 3 Kramnik 4; 4 Grischuk 3.5; 5-6 Aronian, Leko 3; 7-8 Morozevich, Svidler 2.5; Anand,V (2792) - Grischuk,A (2726) [C88] WCh Mexico City MEX (7), 20.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 Anand allowed the Marshall Attack and defeated Peter Svidler in round 5 after 8.c3 d5 so this is a clever choice 8...b4 9.d3 d6 10.Nbd2 Efim Geller's move popularised by Kasparov 10...Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.c3 Nc6 13.d4 bxc3 14.bxc3 exd4 [14...cxd4 15.cxd4 Bg4!?] 15.cxd4 Nb4 16.Bb1 Bg4 17.h3 Bh5 18.g4 Bg6 Superficially Black's position may look active but his plan is very risky, long term both the Nb4 and Bg6 could be out of play 19.d5 Nd7 20.Nc4 Rb8 21.Bf4 Nb6 22.Nxb6 Rxb6 23.Nd2 Bg5 [23...Bf6!? 24.Ra3 Bd4 25.Nc4? Nxd5!] 24.Bxg5 Qxg5 25.Nc4 Rbb8 26.Qd2! Anand exchanges Black's active pieces and pressures d6 persistently 26...Qxd2 27.Nxd2 f6 28.Nc4 Rfd8 29.f4 Bf7 30.Ra3 g5!? White is more mobile so he can attack the weaknesses created by this move but just sitting tight was not much fun either 31.h4 gxf4 32.Rf3 Be8 33.Rxf4 Kg7 34.h5 Bxa4 35.h6+! Kxh6 36.Rxf6+ Kg7 37.g5 Rf8

38.Rxd6 The two connected pawns will give White a winning position but it was more accurate to play [38.Rxf8! Kxf8 39.Nxd6 Ke7 40.Nf5+ which was much stronger but White must still play vigorously to force victory 40...Kf7 41.Kf2! (41.Rc1?! Kg6 42.Rxc5 Nxd5!) 41...Kg6 (41...c4? 42.Nd6+) 42.Kf3 Kxg5 43.Rg1+ Kf6 44.Kf4 Nxd5+ (44...c4 45.e5+ Kf7 46.Nh6+ Ke7 47.Rg7+ Kd8 48.Nf7+ Kc7 49.d6+ Kc6 50.Be4+ Kb6 51.e6 c3 52.d7 Kc7 53.d8Q+ Rxd8 54.Nxd8+ Kxd8 55.Ke5+-) 45.exd5 Rb4+ 46.Be4 Rxe4+ 47.Kxe4 Bc2+ 48.Kf4 Bxf5 49.Rc1 looks insufficient for Black] 38...Bc2? [38...Bb5! 39.Ne3 Rbe8! 40.Rd1 (40.Nf5+ Rxf5) 40...Kh8 Intending Rg8 - Notkin Chess Today] 39.Ne5 Rf4 40.Rf6! Rh4 [40...Rxf6 41.gxf6+ Kxf6 42.Nd7+] 41.d6 Bxb1 42.Rxb1 Rxe4 43.Rf7+ Kg8 44.Re7 Rd8 45.Rd1 c4 46.d7 Rf4

47.Rf1! Rff8 [47...Rxf1+ 48.Kxf1 Kf8 49.Rxh7 Kg8 50.g6 Nd5 51.Nf7 Rxd7 52.Nh6+ Kf8 53.Rxd7] 48.Rxf8+ Kxf8 49.Rxh7 c3 50.Ng6+ [50.Ng6+ Kg8 51.Rh8+ Kg7 52.Rxd8] 1-0 Gelfand defended very resourcefully against Kramnik who played a new move in the opening. As in yesterday’s game in this line the Black king is deprived of a safe haven but as late as move 33 from the position below Gelfand played the surprising 33…0-0-0! which Kramnik admitted afterwards he had forgotten about. The game concluded. Gelfand

Kramnik Position after 33.Qxg2 33...0–0–0! 34.Qa2 f5 35.Qxa3 fxe4 36.Qxd6 Rxd6 37.fxe4 Bxe4+ 38.Kg1 Bd3 39.Bxe5 Rg6+ 40.Kf2 Bxb5 draw Svidler,P (2735) - Aronian,L (2750) [C69] WCh Mexico City MEX (7), 20.09.2007 [IM Malcolm Pein] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 f6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 c5 8.Ne2 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bd7 10.Nbc3 0-0-0 11.Be3 Re8 12.Rd2 Bc6 13.Rad1 b6 14.f3 Bd6 15.Bf4 Bxf4 16.Nxf4 Nh6

17.Kf2 [17.g4 Nf7 18.Kf2 Nd6 19.b3 a5 20.Ncd5 Kb7 21.h4 c4 22.h5 cxb3 23.cxb3 Bxd5 24.Nxd5 Rd8 25.h6] 17...f5 18.exf5 Nxf5 19.Re1 Rxe1 20.Kxe1 g5 1/2-1/2

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